GANGTOK: Move over yak hair and bicycles. India and China may soon enter into an agreement to increase the number of items that can be traded through Nathula, the 4,310-metre Himalayan pass linking Sikkim with the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China. Till now, border trade has failed to gain volumes with the present basket of exports like goatskin from China and bicycles from India.
Although the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) had raised the upper limit for a single consignment of Rs 25,000 to Rs 100,000, trade this year has added up to just Rs 3 lakh since the pass opened on May 1 after the winter.
Although the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) had raised the upper limit for a single consignment of Rs 25,000 to Rs 100,000, trade this year has added up to just Rs 3 lakh since the pass opened on May 1 after the winter.
M G Kiran, Sikkim’s industry secretary, who is also the coordinator to facilitate Sino Indian trade through Nathula, said Sikkim has urged the Union government to revise the list and include items that are in demand on the Chinese side. “We have sent a list of 100 additional items for export and the commerce ministry is working on it. The Chinese counterpart is also learnt to be to revising their list. Both countries may soon come to a decision to sign a new agreement,” Kiran said. Traders from the China want Sikkim beer and whiskey, biscuits and Darjeeling tea for Tibet. Traders here want to import high-end electrical and electronic goods and legalised import of Chinese clothes and footwear, which is already available via smugglers.Kiran said although the notification issued on April 20 allows traders using the Nathula land port to send a single consignment worth Rs 10,000, this has not been of great help as listed products both for export and import from and to India are not in great demand. At present, China can export goat and sheep skin, wool, yak hair, borax, china clay and livestock, among other things. Traders from Sikkim are allowed to export things like blankets, copper products, bicycles, rice and flour, vegetables and vegetable oils.
The DGFT notification has also called for an export-import code for traders against a sales tax or trade tax registration issued by the state, which was earlier not required. Normally, this code is given against a permanent account number (PAN), issued by the income tax department. Since income tax rules are not applicable in Sikkim, locals do not have a PAN. The requirement for this code was waived in the first round of trade that started in June 2006 after 44 years.
