Ministry of Commerce And Supplies - Enhanced Integrated ...

N T I S2010Indian phytosanitary standards require that Nepal can only export lentils that are free from soil and have beenfumigated with methyl bromide or equivalent or any other treatment approved by the Plant Protection Adviserto the Government of India and that the fumigation treatment is endorsed on the phytosanitary certificateaccompanying the shipment. Currently, the DoA provides for the fumigation and certification of lentil exportsto India. There is no other SPS support for lentil export from Nepal, though agrochemical registration is basedlargely on Indian standards, which presumably are themselves based on CODEX standards.Future government/private sector interactions rest on the continuing market access with the likelihood ofincreasingly stringent CODEX-based requirements being required by the Indian government and privatesector. Forward planning should include a review of fumigation and agrochemical registration based on atleast the possibility of Montreal Protocol (which may stop the use of methyl bromide for fumigation 15 ) andCODEX standards for agrochemical MRLs. Government support to a producer/marketer-led lentil exportersassociation will be necessary. This association and/or its constituent members can ‘work towards’ TCPcertification, which must, in the final analysis, be market-driven.TeaIntroductionAlthough tea growing has been established for about 150 years in Nepal, it was not until 1982 that its significanceas an export earner was identified by the government, together with the designation of the eastern districtsof Jhapa, Ilam, Panchthar, Terhathum, and Dhankuta as tea zones. From then on, there has been formalassistance to the sector from government. The Nepal Tea and Coffee Development Board Act passed in 1993,together with the formation of the Tea Board. A National Tea Policy was introduced in year 2000 to supportthe growth of the sector. The Government also privatized their holdings at that time. Significant increases ofexports in quantity and value of tea have occurred, though the crop constituted only 0.25 per cent to the totalexport earnings of Nepalese export earnings in 2007/08. Due to a significant number of individual or separateinterests and a lack of readiness to work together, the sector remains weaker than it could be. Despitethis, a large number of people, including small holders, are engaged in growing tea with over 30,000 peopledirectly involved in the industry, including a large percentage of rural women. The potential for employmentof rural women and poverty alleviation has ensured that tea has been the focus of attention of internationalorganizations and NGOs in Nepal. The tea produced in the Terai region originates predominantly from clonebushes, which are very similar to those of the Indian Siliguri region, and producing similar crush-tear-curl (CTC)type of tea. Orthodox tea grown in the hill regions mainly from seedling varieties is very similar to the IndianDarjeeling tea.SPS Issues in the Tea SectorTea in Nepal is attacked by a range of arthropod pests and diseases. These pests in many cases require the useof agrochemicals, which, in turn, requires exporters to demonstrate to buyers that these chemicals have beencorrectly applied. It is frequently asserted that incorrect and high application of agrochemicals has led to high15The fact that the hole in the ozone layer (caused by chloro-fluoro carbons and more controversially by bromine compounds used infumigation) has largely recovered but has not led to any easing of the provisions of the Montreal Protocol, especially in terms of TPC.Therefore, it is prudent to assume that alternative fumigation chemicals will be required at some point in the future.200NEPAL TRADE INTEGRATION STRATEGY 2010BACKGROUND REPORT