PESHAWAR, July 6: Exporters in the North West Frontier Province are worried about the continuous drop in exports to Afghanistan. The decline is mainly due to discriminatory policies of the government, delays in payment of refund claims and inception of investigative audits, they say.

Businessmen say that exports to Afghanistan were worth $1.3 billion in 2005-06, which declined to $600 million in the first 10 months of the financial year 2006-07.

They say that the procedure for claiming rebate in taxes on exports is cumbersome. Under a statutory regulatory order of 2005, it is mandatory for exporters to produce a copy of import clearance issued by the customs authorities in Afghanistan for claiming tax rebate on exports to Afghanistan.

They complained that the Afghan authorities did not issue an extra copy of their documents to Pakistani exporters, creating problems for them, adding that Afghan importers too were reluctant to provide their personal records.

Likewise, they said, delays in payment of rebate refunds on the pretext of investigative audits were affecting the country’s exports. “Suspicious cases must be investigated but blacklisting everyone is not fair. This only worsens exporters’ problems and causes severe liquidity problems,” they added.

A delegation of businessmen informed Sales Tax Collector Rashid Ahmad Bajwa of their problems here on Friday, a press release said. President of the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry Liaqat Ahmad Khan led the delegation.

The delegation forwarded a number of suggestions and proposals for removing irritants in exports to Afghanistan. Mr Bajwa assured the delegation of early disposal of their refund claims.