Finance Minister Warns Strict Action Against Organized Smuggling and Revenue Leakage

Kathmandu. Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle has made it clear that the government will facilitate the purchase of daily necessities for ordinary citizens living in border areas, but will strictly deal with organized smuggling and revenue leakage. Speaking at a meeting of the Finance Committee of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Finance Minister Wagle clarified that the provision of customs duty on goods exceeding one hundred rupees was not introduced by the current government but has been a policy in place for decades. Finance Minister Wagle stated that the government is committed to making the daily lives of citizens in the Terai-Madhesh border areas easier and will be lenient towards ordinary people buying essential items like soap or sugar across the border. However, he warned that the government will not compromise on organized illegal smuggling and revenue leakage that occurs under this guise. He stated that a special campaign will be launched against gangs that bring goods into Nepali markets and warehouses by crossing the border multiple times a day, harming domestic production. In the meeting, Finance Minister Wagle said, 'These rules about customs duty on goods exceeding one hundred rupees are not brought by our government. This is something that has been in practice for decades and was mentioned in the economic act of the previous government. The policy of this government is to facilitate the daily lives of Nepalis, especially those in the Terai-Madhesh, who protect Nepal's sovereignty by residing at the border. Therefore, we will promote it, but we will ruthlessly deal with the extremely frightening and severe problems of smuggling and revenue leakage intertwined with it. We will ruthlessly deal with illegal smuggling rackets that bring goods into warehouses on the Nepali side by crossing back and forth twenty times a day, harming our domestic products.' Informing that all federal, provincial, and local level mechanisms will be mobilized to control revenue leakage, he said that the high-level revenue mobilization committee, jointly coordinated by the Home Minister and the Finance Minister, will be activated. To make border security technology-friendly, the government has put forward a plan to use cameras, face recognition devices, night vision equipment, and artificial intelligence (AI)-based surveillance systems in border areas. Significant budget allocation is being prepared for the Ministry of Home Affairs for this. Similarly, the government plans to invest heavily in strengthening border posts, expanding patrol capabilities, and purchasing modern equipment to make the Armed Police Force more equipped. Finance Minister Wagle expressed his commitment to adopting zero tolerance for illegal activities, stating 'a border is a border,' but implementing policies from a humanitarian perspective so as not to affect the daily lives of ordinary citizens.