. All customs offices across the country have been closed from today at the call of the Federation of Customs Agents. As a result, import and export activities have been affected. The Federation of Customs Agents (FNCCI) had been pressuring the government to revise the provisions of the new Customs Act, terming it unfair, but due to the government’s non-cooperation, the customs clearance process had to be halted.
Umesh Ghimire, central member of FNCCI, said that the pandown has been initiated as part of the phase-wise agitation over the impractical provisions of the Customs Act, the continuous problems seen in the servers, and the issues of professional rights.TAG_OPEN_p_5 In particular, the Federation has objected to the provision of penalty for mistakes made while uploading documents to the computer system electronically in Section 71 J.
The agitation started from Birgunj Customs Office on Sunday.TAG_OPEN_p_4 The Bhairahawa customs remained completely closed on Monday due to the pen down agitation of employees, and services at customs offices across the country have been suspended since Tuesday.
