Nepal lifts ban on food import from eight countries

People wearing face masks as a preventive measure against the Covid-19 buy vegetable at a local market in Kathmandu on March 25, 2020. - AFP

KATHMANDU (Xinhua): The Nepali government has lifted a ban on the import of food items from eight countries which have been hit hard by the novel coronavirus, citing reduced risk of transmission of virus from food items, a senior official of Nepal's Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, said.

The Department of Food Technology and Quality Control under the ministry suspended issuing import permits for the food items from China, Italy, Iran, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany and Spain in the second week of March.