Panel formed to review policy on liquor factory licensing

The government has formed a high-level committee to revisit its policy on licensing liquor factories in the country. The Ministry of Industry (MoI) formed the committee after its recent decision to license new liquor factories drew flak from all quarters.
The committee led by Yam Kumar Khatiwada, joint secretary at the ministry, comprises of representatives from private sector as well as other concerned government agencies.
Representatives from Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Federation of Nepalese Cottage and Small Industry (FNSCI) and Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), among others have been included in the committee.
“The committee has been asked to study the existing policy and come up with recommendations to make it more appropriate in present context,” Krishna Gyawali, secretary at MoI, told Republica over phone.
The government had lifted the 12-year ban on setting up new liquor factories a couple of months ago. But after issuing licenses to some factories, the Industrial Promotion Board (IPB) had decided suspended the licensing process stating that the existing policy should be reviewed.
Following that, the 202nd meeting of IPB taken a decision to form a committee to review the policy.
“The recommendations made by the committee will work as a guiding framework for the government on the issue,” added Gyawali.
The government had stopped licensing new liquor factories in October, 2011 following severe pressure from the then CPN (Maoist) that was waging insurgency against the government. Ironically, the decision to resume licensing of new liquor factories was led by the government led by the same party.
Meanwhile, private sector says they want a control mechanism to regulate the liquor industry. “We need industries for economic growth. However, there should be some controlling mechanism for liquor factories,” Suraj Vaidya, president of FNCCI, told Republica.
According to the Nepal Liquor Manufacturers´ Association (NELMA), the country imports liquors worth Rs 4 billion annually. Domestic liquor production is worth around Rs 11 billion, according to the association.