A Pak-Afghan border management committee meeting at Custom Station Torkham agreed to expedite the crossover of vehicles from both sides to 900 trucks daily to clear the long queues of goods-laden vehicles waiting for clearance.
The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Additional Collector Customs (Appraisement), Muhammad Rizwan.
Other officials present in the meeting were Deputy Collector Enforcement, Saiqa Abbas, Assistant Director FIA, Yasir Arafat, Assistant Director Anti Narcotics, Salman, Maj Murad from Frontier Corps, DC Appraisement Customs, Hammad, Assistant Collector, Farya Abbas Naqvi, Deputy Collector, Fahad Ahmad, Transit Superintendent, Saddiq Akbar.
Those who represented the business community included the Coordinator Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi, Vice Chairman of All Pakistan Customs Agents Association, Vice President of PAJCCI, Shujah Muhammad, Farooq Ahmad, President of Torkham Custom Agents Association, Haji Aimal Khan, Ex. President Custom Agents Association, Nasir Shinwari, and others.
The meeting held a threadbare discussion on the slow clearance process of trucks, causing delays in the transportation of consignments besides the return of empty containers, resulting in financial losses to the business community of both countries.
Participants of the meeting decided to convey a message to the Afghan side to reduce the break period for clearance starting from 2:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., causing the lining up of trucks on both sides.
Custom Clearing Agents were also asked to start GD (Goods Document) filing in the early morning to ensure timely clearance of trucks.
Additional Collector Customs, Muhammad Rizwan, assured business people that a new scanner will be arranged by March of 2024, which will also help in the early clearance of trucks.
Speaking on the occasion, Coordinator PAJCCI, Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi, appreciated the efforts of the Custom Collectorate in arranging meetings of stakeholders of Pak-Afghan trade to streamline commerce and trade in the region.
He lamented the delay by NLC in the completion of a new terminal at Torkham, which caused delays in the clearance of trucks. Zia said NLC had claimed completion of construction work in June 2023, but the project still needs to be completed.
He also demanded a revival of the issuance of a permit (Rahadari) of Rs. 5000 by a Political Agent for all the Afghanistan-bound trucks.
After the extension of the district administration system to FATA, different departments have started collecting taxes under various pretexts from export and transit-bound trucks to Afghanistan, inflicting a financial burden on the business community, Zia complained.
Vice Chairman of All Pakistan Customs Agents Association, Farooq Ahmad, stressed the provision of reasonable time for implementing the decision regarding the ban on importing items from Afghanistan mentioned in the negative list.
Soon after deciding on creating a negative list, clearance of containers was stopped, affecting the business community whose goods had reached Karachi port or were in the pipeline.
Farooq insisted on increasing vigilance and monitoring at borders to curb smuggling instead of imposing a ban on importing different items.
Speaking on the occasion, Additional Collector Customs Muhammad Rizwan said the purpose of holding such meetings is to get stakeholders’ input to improve trade between the two countries.
The points raised in the meeting are noted for presentation to high-ups for making decisions to resolve issues.
He also asked business people to keep approaching officials regarding complaints for timely redressal of different problems.
