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The bilateral negotiation meeting between India and Nepal on the pilot use of the Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS) for traffic-in-transit was held on 6 June 2017 in Mumbai, India.

The Meeting

• Finalized a Memorandum of Intent (MoI) between the Government of India and the Government of Nepal to pilot the use of ECTS for facilitating movement of traffic-in-transit of Nepal. Heads of the delegations of India and Nepal, Mr. Sandeep Kumar, Commissioner, Central Board of Excise and Customs, Ministry of Finance, India, and Mr. Rabi Shanker Sainju, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Nepal, signed the MOI. The Meeting also agreed to include Haldia and Kolkata ports in the agreement;
• Drafted the conditions and simplified procedures to be applied during the ECTS pilot; and 
• Agreed on a time-bound action plan for the ECTS pilot. 

Mr. Kumar, Mr. Sainju, and Mr. Ronald Antonio Butiong, Director, Regional Cooperation and Operations Coordination Division, South Asia Department, Asian Development Bank (ADB), delivered welcome and opening remarks. They highlighted that the ECTS pilot could potentially place India and Nepal at the forefront of transport facilitation. Applying technology to Customs operations will bring more efficiency to transit operations.

Government officials of India and Nepal from Customs, commerce, and legal ministries and departments, and ADB staff and consultants participated in the Meeting.

Implementation of the ECTS will help facilitate safe and secure cross-border transit, simplify border formalities and procedures, reduce congestion of cargo, improve transit time, and lessen transaction cost.


Related Links:

• SASEC News: Electronic Cargo Tracking System to Improve India-Nepal Cargo Traffic and Security
• ADB News Release