Pak-Afghan body agrees to expedite crossover of vehicles

PESHAWAR: A meeting of the Pak-Afghan border management committee 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 and Transit Superintendent Saddiq Akbar.

Those who represented the business community included 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, former president Custom Agents Association Nasir Shinwari and others, the official news agency reported.

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, ensuing in financial losses to the business community of both countries.

Participants of the meeting decided to convey a message to the Afghan side for reducing break period for clearance starting from 2:00am to 10:00am causing lining up of trucks on both sides.

Custom clearing agents were also asked to start goods document filing from early morning to ensure timely clearance of trucks.

Additional Collector Customs Muhammad Rizwan assured businessmen that a new scanner will be arranged till March which will also help in early clearance of trucks.

Speaking on the occasion, Coordinator PAJCCI Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi appreciated the efforts of Custom Collectorate in arranging meetings of stakeholders of Pak-Afghan trade with the objective to streamlining of commerce and trade in the region.

He lamented the delay by NLC in the completion of a new terminal at Torkham as a result of which delays are faced in the clearance of trucks. Zia said NLC had claimed completion of construction work in June 2023 but still the project is not completed.

He also demanded a revival of the issuance of a permit (rahadari) of Rs5,000 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 different pretexts from export and transit-bound trucks to Afghanistan, inflicting a financial burden on the business community, Zia complained.

Vice Chairman All Pakistan Customs Agents Association Farooq Ahmad laid stress on the provision of reasonable time for implementation of the decision regarding the ban on the import of items from Afghanistan mentioned in the negative list.

Soon after deciding on the creation of 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 the import of different items.

Speaking on the occasion, Additional Collector Customs Muhammad Rizwan said the purpose of holding such meetings is to get input from stakeholders for the improvement of trade between the two countries.

The points raised in the meeting are noted for presentation to high-ups for making decisions for resolution of issues.

He also asked businessmen to keep approaching officials regarding any complaints for timely redressal of different problems.