Neten Dorji

Samdrupjongkhar—Authorities in Samdrupjongkhar are cracking down on illegal mandarin exports to prevent market disruptions and loss of government revenue.

Middlemen have been taking advantage of loopholes in export rules, causing farmers to earn less for their oranges during the peak season. The issue is: the intermediaries pretend to be farmers and export products without following licensing and customs rules.

Exporters said that without restrictions at the ICP gates and customs, middlemen undervalue the export of agricultural products.

“In the name of farmers, middlemen export agricultural products, violating certain rules that allow farmers to sell agricultural products worth less than Nu 30,000 without obtaining a license,” said exporter Rinchen Dorji. “More middlemen are doing this during the orange export season.”

Another exporter, Sherub Zangpo, said that due to intermediaries, farmers did not receive the expected price for their agricultural products.

“A small syndicate of middlemen from across the border, working for Bhutanese middlemen, is distorting the market price,” he explained. “There are several individuals here manipulating prices, causing serious disruption in Samdrupjongkhar’s market.”

Exporters exporting mandarin to Bangladesh and India must be registered and have trade licences for  exportation, whereas only a few exporters exporting to India are registered and hold a license.

According to the Bhutan Export Association, Samdrupjongkhar those who are registered and licensed are accustomed to taxation, whereas those without a license do not have to pay taxes.

“Unregistered mandarin exports have long undermined government revenue, disrupted price stabilisation, and bypassed legal export channels,” said Karma Tenzin, Regional Secretary of Bhutan Export Association Samdrupjongkhar Chapter. “Without proper documentation, these activities go untracked, impacting both the economy and data accuracy.”

He said that co-ordinating meetings among relevant agencies has been conducted to address and solve any issues related to exports.

“Those without a licence will be not permitted to export through Integrated Check Post(ICP), and their permit clarification will be not issued,”he said. “All middlemen regardless of exporting to India or Bangladesh, are mandated to produce licenses.”

It was learned that after the implementation of new measures, most of the middlemen started obtaining trade licenses for exports.

All the legitimised licence holders are mandated to be under the Bhutan TradeFin Net System (BTFN). Any RNR products of Samdrupjongkhar and other dzongkhags should be permitted from the border gates to the legal licence holders.

The streamlining of the overall export system could help the proper date keeping of export figures, payment of liable taxes to the government and eliminate the involvement of middlemen.

During the last mandarin season, the data collected was not accurate or reliable and there was a delay in the submission of data by the exporters.

To overcome this issue, RAMCO Mongar has shared a Google sheet with the exporters for data input.

Officials said that the data collected through phone calls and personal approach was often inaccurate. “By this season the input of data on a shared Google sheet by the respective exporters is recommended for accuracy,”he said.“Exporters must ensure to input data every time they export through gateways.”

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