KATHMANDU: The Government of Nepal has introduced the Seventh Customs Reform and Modernisation Plan (2083-2088).
The five-year strategic plan, to be implemented from fiscal year 2083/84 to 2087/88 B.S., aims to make Nepal’s customs administration fully digital, secure and aligned with international standards. It sets a long-term goal of making customs services fully paperless, contactless and faceless.
The plan has identified five strategic pillars, 10 strategies, 31 objectives, 80 activities and 369 tasks to strengthen customs reform. The five pillars are trade facilitation, revenue management, control and protection of society, customs operations and innovation, and institutional development.
The plan aims to reduce trade costs and processing time, promote legitimate trade, strengthen border security and improve control over revenue leakage.
A total of Rs 7.005 billion is estimated to be spent on programmes during the plan period. Of this, Rs 5.911 billion will be allocated for capital expenditure and Rs 1.994 billion for recurrent and programme expenditure, according to the plan.
The government will mobilise resources from development partners, including $50 million in policy-based support from the Asian Development Bank, as well as the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC), World Customs Organization (WCO), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.
Under the plan, modern technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and data warehouses will be used in Nepal’s customs administration to automate the risk analysis system. The government also plans to strengthen trade-based anti-money laundering measures, establish an Anti-Commercial Fraud Unit and expand the use of non-intrusive inspection equipment.
The plan has set key performance indicators to be achieved by 2088 B.S.
The level of implementation of the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) is targeted to increase from the current 39.1 percent to 90 percent or above. Similarly, the rate of physical inspections is targeted to be reduced from 37.3 percent to below 20 percent based on value.
The plan also aims to reduce the average time required for import and export clearance by 10 percent, increase the number of agencies integrated into the system from 14 to 28, and increase the number of modern customs laboratories from 11 to 14.
For implementation and monitoring, the plan provides for the formation of a Steering Committee coordinated by the Director General of the Department of Customs and a Coordination and Implementation Unit headed by a Deputy Director General. The implementation will be reviewed on a semi-annual and annual basis.
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