Bhutan - Customs and duties

Under the Indo-Bhutanese Treaty of 1949, goods pass from one country to another without payment of customs duties. Bhutan currently has observer status with the World Trade Organization (WTO). In 1999, the WTO accepted Bhutan's application for accession. However, as of December 2002, Bhutan had not provided the WTO with the required memorandum on its foreign trade regime, the next step in the process of negotiating an accession. In 2002, the government identified a site in Phuentsholing for the construction of a dry port to expedite export and import formalities and revised some of its more restrictive import rules.