Export trade from the international airport has been halted since Thursday after the police questioned Nepali goods that employees were preparing to take on board after they had cleared the inspection.

Nepali goods worth crores of rupees, including carpets, garments, handicrafts, vegetables, herbs, etc., were packed and even booked for flights to Europe, America and other countries. Currently, talks are underway between the stakeholders at the airport customs office in the presence of Secretary to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers Govinda Sharma. Although the talks have been going on for a long time, no solution has been found.

The dispute started when the police questioned some herbs while checking the goods packed by a cargo operator in an X-ray machine. The businessman claims that the police unnecessarily stopped the Nepali goods that are regularly being sent abroad. Nepal Freight Forwarders Association President Rajendra Sangraula said that the problem has arisen because the police have interfered in the matter of arms and aircraft security at customs.

‘The police can only exercise their authority in matters of arms and aircraft security,’ said President Sangraula. ‘Currently, there have been activities such as confiscating export goods from the police, having to open all the goods and show them, and reprimanding cargo employees.’

However, SSP Basant Rajouria, head of the International Airport Security Office, said that it is not the police’s job to stop exports. ‘The police have no role in matters other than arms or items prohibited in terms of security,’ said Rajouria. ‘There is no question of stopping export goods.’

Businessmen have complained about police excesses in the name of security. ‘We are ready to face action by customs if there is a mistake,’ said a businessman, ‘but the police are continuously unnecessarily harassing and discouraging.’

The businessman’s statement about the work of customs officials is true. The police have been examining the goods in the X-ray machine inside the customs. There is no separate customs employee, nor is there an X-ray machine. According to a customs officer, the dispute started after the police stopped some goods, including herbs, that the cargo was trying to export. SSP Rajouria, however, claimed that the police did not do anything to make the export difficult. He says, ‘Customs will do all the work regarding export. The police have no role in this. We will facilitate.’

However, the customs officials said that they did not stop some of the goods, including herbs, that were being exported. ‘This issue is a dispute between the security personnel and the businessmen. "We have not stopped it," the employee said. Cargo traders have protested after Nepali goods that have been sent abroad before cannot be sent now. The traders say that the police seized some herbs on Tuesday. The traders say that the export was stopped after the traders had paid more than $100,000 in booking charges to transport goods packed in various cargoes on Wednesday. They say that the traders have to bear a loss of millions of rupees when the goods are stopped for a day. "The plane flew empty at night, but we were not able to send the goods," the cargo trader said, "Businessmen have been unnecessarily inconvenienced by not trusting the customs officials."