Importing From India to Nepal

On 28 April 2026 Nepal started enforcing a rule that every imported finished product carry a maximum retail price label before it clears customs. Traders got 15 days' notice. Within a day about 600 containers were stuck at Birgunj alone, and a business leader explained why - "A single shipping container can hold hundreds of thousands or even millions of individual pieces" (Nepal News, 30 April 2026 (opens in a new tab)).

We open with that because it's how buying from India into Nepal usually goes wrong. The treaty is generous and the tariff is rarely the problem. The border is. This page covers what's specific to Nepal - the bilateral treaty, what it waives, the VAT and the labelling rule - and leaves the shared SAFTA rules to the bloc page. The caveat - we haven't read Nepal's full land-border procedure, so the documents list is for your broker.

Last researched 28 September 2026 · Next review 24 November 2026 · Written by SourcingFrom

The decision in brief is in the playbook: Exporting and trade → /india/#trade. The shared SAFTA rules are on the SAFTA bloc page.

1. The Treaty Runs to 2030, and Is Being Reviewed

The India-Nepal Treaty of Trade was signed at Kathmandu on 27 October 2009 for seven years, extending automatically unless either side gives three months' notice (treaty text, commerce.gov.in (opens in a new tab)). It renewed in October 2023 (Embassy of India, Kathmandu (opens in a new tab)), so the current term runs to October 2030. In September 2026 the two governments agreed to set up a technical committee to review it (Kathmandu Post, 23 September 2026, Reported). A separate Treaty of Transit covers Nepal's third-country cargo through Indian ports.

India is also a huge supplier for its size. India's exports to Nepal were US$7.43 billion in FY2025-26, making Nepal India's twelfth-largest export market (PIB, 15 April 2026 (opens in a new tab)). Most of that comes over the land border by truck.

2. What the Treaty Waives, and What It Doesn't

Here's the part buyers misread. The treaty sets a certificate of origin for Nepalese goods going into India, not for Indian goods coming into Nepal. For your direction, Nepal waives additional customs duty on Indian exports for as long as the treaty runs, with no certificate set for that (treaty text, Protocol to Articles V and VI (opens in a new tab), read 25 September 2026). Nepal's normal customs duty still applies, and so does VAT at a single 13% rate, with a zero rate for goods in Schedule 2 (Value Added Tax Act 2052, section 7, Inland Revenue Department (opens in a new tab)).

So the treaty doesn't make Indian goods duty-free for you. If you want a preference on the normal duty, SAFTA is the route to ask about, and the certificate rules for that are on the bloc page.

3. The Label That Stops the Truck

Back to April. The MRP rule wasn't new. Nepal's Consumer Protection Act 2019 already required it, and it had simply gone unenforced for years (Nepal News, as above). The label has to show a price including all taxes, in Nepali or English. After the backlog, the government let importers clear on a written MRP declaration and a pledge to label the goods in their own warehouse before sale (same source).

That's the fix we'd build into every order now. Ask your Indian supplier whether it can print or sticker your MRP at packing, which is cheap in a factory and nearly impossible at Birgunj. If it can't, keep the self-declaration route ready with your broker. Either way, don't assume the relief will last - check before each season.

4. Where the Birgunj Story Leaves You

The containers stuck in April had valid paperwork and paid duty. What they didn't have was a label that a dormant law suddenly required. That's Nepal in one lesson. The treaty is stable to 2030, the VAT is known, and the thing that catches you is a rule at the border that changes on 15 days' notice. Watch the Department of Commerce and your broker's notices as closely as the tariff.

Next Step

Every Indian agreement is on India's trade agreements.