Nathula traders to get IEC without PAN
The Centre has agreed to issue the mandatory Import Export Code (IEC) to Sikkimese businessmen engaged in border trade with China through the Nathula Pass.
By PTI |
GANGTOK: The Centre has agreed to issue the mandatory Import Export Code (IEC) to Sikkimese businessmen engaged in border trade with China through the Nathula Pass.
A notification dated April 30, issued by the Union Commerce and Industries Ministry, said the IEC could be issued to the Sikkimese traders on the basis of their VAT or sales tax registration NOs issued by the state government as a substitute to Permanent Account Numbers.
Normally, IEC is issued on the basis of PAN, which traders in Sikkim do not possess as the central income tax laws are not in force in the state.
The notice is signed by the Director-General of Foreign Trade in the Union Commerce and Industry Ministry D S Meena.
Non-possession of the IEC by the local traders was one of the reasons for the delayed start of actual trading activities through Nathula last year.
Though the route ceremonially opened for border trade on July six 2006, the actual trading could begin about two weeks after that when the Union Commerce Ministry exempted the Sikkimese traders from the formality of producing IEC at the border till further orders.
Welcoming the Centre's decision, the Sikkim Chamber of Commerce President S K Sarda said it had removed a major impediment to trade through the Himalayan pass.
Attributing the Centre's decision to sustained efforts by the chamber, Sarda said, it would help raise the volume of trade through the route.
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