Kathmandu:  After suspending international adoptions a year ago because of fears of widespread corruption, Nepal has passed new rules for foreigners wanting to adopt Nepalese children, officials said today.

"We have begun informing various embassies of the new terms and conditions for adopting a child from Nepal for foreigners," Prakash Adhikari, an official at the ministry of women, children and social welfare, told AFP.

In June 2007,Nepal banned international adoptions after reports emerged of middlemen charging prospective parents up to USD 20,000,a fortune in the impoverished country where the annual per capita income is USD 350.

Before the ban was imposed last June, dozens of private orphanages around Kathmandu allowed would-be adopters to visit and choose the child they wanted to adopt, another practise the official said had now been ended.

"There won't be any middlemen involved in the process and adopting parents can no longer choose the children directly by visiting orphanages," the official said.

Under the new rules approved at the end of last month, prospective parents have to apply though their respective embassies or an authorised international adoption agency in their home country, the official said.

"There were complaints about widespread corruption between parents and orphanages while choosing a child. We are hoping that the new rules will make the adoption process more transparent," he said.

Administration costs will be USD 300 per child and the adoptive parents will need to "deposit a certain amount of money" into government coffers. "The amount the government will receive has not yet been finalised," Adhikari said.

Source : PTI