Ministry of Commerce And Supplies - Enhanced Integrated ...

Chapter 8Sanitary and Phytosanitary StandardsN T I S20108.1 IntroductionThis chapter reviews Nepal’s progress towards establishing an infrastructure of Sanitary and Phytosanitary(SPS) compliance services for exporters. The chapter is organized in four sections:(1) a brief review of Nepalese SPS-sensitive exports and SPS issues that may have led to market entrydifficulties for such goods in potential markets;(2) a review of the supporting structures and legislative framework in Nepal intended to assist and certifySPS-sensitive exports,(3) an analysis of commodity-specific issues for the priority sectors identified in Chapter 2; and,(4) conclusions and recommended future actions.8.2 SPS-sensitive ExportsNepal’s Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS)sensitive ExportsChapter 2 has identified a number of priority export sectors for support. Among those, cardamom, ginger,honey, lentils, tea (green and black), and, to a limited extent, uncooked pasta are subject to the SPS complianceof importing countries.Table 8.1 shows exports for those sectors for the last two years. The data in the table is highly aggregated bycountry, but it is clear that, for SPS-sensitive exports, India is Nepal’s primary export market by value. Despitedramatic growth in exports to other markets, India will continue to dominate as a destination market for theseagro-food products. The volatile nature of some of the data suggests that the quality of Nepalese trade datais imperfect at best. The porous nature of the border with India allows a significant amount of informal tradebetween the two countries, which simply is not captured.NumberGroupsTable 8.1Exports of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS)-sensitive Foods from Nepal,2007/08 and 2008/09 (in US$1,000)HarmonizedSystem(HS) codeWorld(excludingIndia)F.Y 2007/08 F. Y. 2008/9Indiatotal%IndiaWorld(excludingIndia)1 Cardamom 090830 866 15,532 16,398 95 458 18,230 18,689 982 Ginger 091010 5 810 815 99 1.3 5,610 5,612 1003 Honey 040900 2.5 0 2.5 0 20 13 33 414 Lentils 071340 4,725 19,663 24,389 81 77,189 1,551 78,741 25 Green Tea 090210 222 0 222 0 284 68 353 196 Black Tea 090230 648 0 648 0 685 16,221 16,907 967 Uncooked pasta 190219 7,998 4,663 12,662 37 2,005 9,613 11,619 838Medicinal Plants /Essential oilsExchange rates 2007/08 Nepali Rupee - US$ 0.01501Exchange rates 2008/09 Nepali Rupee - US$ 0.01391India121190 2,230 2,479 4,709 53 8,070 2,477 10,548 23total%IndiaTOTALS 16,699 43,149 59,849 72 142,504 142,504 142,504 100NEPAL TRADE INTEGRATION STRATEGY 2010BACKGROUND REPORT187