KATHMANDU, Feb 10: The test of Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS) of goods transhipped from Vishakhapatnam Port in India to Birgunj in Nepal has been a success.
The Port will officially begin ferrying Nepali-bound goods from February 15 this year.
Electronic cargo tracking to come into effect on February 15
The Customs authorities had launched the GPS-based tracking tool last summer which will cut down on transshipment time and cost incurred by Nepali importers to two weeks from the present 2-3 months, resulting in savings to the Nepal trade.
Furthermore, cargo tampering will also be tackled since the containers will be electronically sealed.
Visakhapatnam has been declared as the second gateway port to export and import cargo with Nepal, the first being Kolkata-Haldiya port.
In June 2017, during Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's official visit to India, Nepal and India signed a memorandum of the intent to pilot the tracking system to ease transit of cargo by road and rail from Kolkata to four major customs points of Nepal- Kolkata-Birgunj via Raxaul, Kolkata-Sirsiya inland container depot via Raxaul, Kolkata-Biratnagar via Jogbani, and Kolkata-Bhairahawa via Sonauli corridors.
According to Director at the Department of Commerce, Supply and Consumer Protection Purusottam Subedi, the goods arriving Nepal via Vishakapatam Port will be handed over to the rightful owner through the automatic system without having to produce any papers unlike in the past. RSS
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