KHYBER: Traders have called for facilities at Torkham border crossing to accelerate Pakistan’s trade with Afghanistan.

They have also urged authorities to restrict the National Logistic Cell to its original responsibility of managing the affairs of the customs terminal, which has yet to be made fully functional.

These demands come as a high-powered Afghan government delegation is visiting Pakistan to facilitate cargo movement at border stations to maintain unfettered bilateral and transit trade.

According to a statement, issued at the conclusion of the Torkham Customs Clearing Agents Association (TCCAA) meeting held on Friday, in order to provide a much required boost to the bilateral trade with Afghanistan, the Federal Board of Revenue and Pakistan Customs shall be fully empowered to exercise their responsibilities along with equipping them with all possible facilities in accordance with their requirements.

Ask authorities to restrict NLC to role of managing customs terminal

Chaired by TCCAA president Mujeebullah Shinwari, the meeting took exception to the “undue” interference by other government agencies and departments as it was not only hampering the process of custom clearance but at times local traders were harassed and intimidated by staff of these agencies and departments in the name of border security and trade management.

It said that though the NLC was yet to make the newly built customs terminal operational, it was charging every loaded vehicle Rs8,000 for just passing through the terminal premises and undergoing electronic scanning while the scanning machine remained out of order most of the time.

Participants of the meeting alleged that the NLC staff also subject both importers and exporter along with the vehicle owner to both electronic scanning and physical examination of all the goods which was both time consuming and frustrating for the traders and transporters.

“NLC is basically a terminal operator and it should be confined to facilitating the local traders and transporters instead of its increasing interference in the customs clearing process,” a participant said.

The meeting observed that stopping of a loaded vehicle at the border zero point by ‘other agencies’ at the pretext of ‘security clearance’ after the said vehicle thoroughly undergoing customs clearance, electronic scanning, physical examination and finally the issuance of gate pass, was utterly uncalled for and was tantamount to undue interference in the affairs of customs and FBR affairs while also intentionally subjecting local traders to financial losses and mental stress.

They however suggested that if any consignment was suspected of any wrong doings or was under scrutiny of any intelligence agency, then a thorough examination of the said consignment shall be conducted in the presence of both the custom authorities and the TCCAA representatives.

The meeting suggested to the federal government to review duty and taxes on exports while keeping the valuation at the minimum possible level in order to enhance the quantum of exports.

“We also demand of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to completely abolish the 2 per cent infrastructure cess tax on all exports as it is an additional burden over all the local traders,” it said.

The meeting also observed that the stationing of plant protection department, seed department and fumigation department at Torkham was also a serious hindrance in the smooth flow of bilateral trade as officials of these departments were posted at Torkham without providing them any facilities at the newly established customs terminal while all these department were operating only with their names and fleecing the local traders in name of fulfilling so-called legal requirements of export and import.

“None of these departments fulfill the Standard Operating Procedures of the FBR and were thus working unlawfully which is considered detrimental to the promotion of fast track bilateral trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan,” it added.

Meanwhile, official data shared between ATTCCA and customs officials at Torkham about the number of vehicles taking export items from Pakistan and import items from Afghanistan showed a healthy increase since the reopening of Torkham border in March.

The border remained closed for nearly a month over security issues.

The data showed that an average of 400 vehicles loaded with multiple export items daily cross into Afghanistan while around 150-170 vehicles bring in import goods, mostly coal and soap stone from Afghanistan via the Torkham border.

It was learnt that both Pakistani and Afghan authorities were giving priority to clear the backlog of the stranded empty vehicles on the Afghan side to pave the way for further increase in imports while meeting the vehicle demand for exports.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2025