29 September 2004	Wednesday	13 Shaban 1425

ISLAMABAD, Sept 28: An Afghan trade delegation is arriving here on Wednesday to start negotiations with Pakistani authorities for the withdrawal of infrastructure cess levied by the Sindh government on goods imported under Afghan Transit Trade (ATT).

Well-placed sources told Dawn on Tuesday that the delegation comprises senior officials from the Afghan ministries of finance and commerce along with a few big Afghan importers.

According to the sources, the delegation would take a chartered flight out of Kabul to Islamabad for seeking early solution for the releasing of withheld containers at Karachi ports.

The delegation would discuss with Pakistani authorities the withdrawal of the levy on the goods imported under ATT and its impact on the prices of these goods. An informed source told Dawn that Commerce Minister, Humayun Akhtar Khan, before leaving for America, had already taken up the issue with Sindh Chief Minister and Governor for its early withdrawal.

The minister was of the view that there was no need for the levy as it might be collected by the other provinces on the goods under ATT in their respective provinces. But, the same sources said that the Sindh government was strongly opposing the withdrawal of the levy what they termed legitimate on the ground that the Afghan importers using the Sindh routes for transporting their goods to Afghanistan.