The National Assembly passed the Pakistan Land Port Authority Bill 2025 on Thursday to facilitate the movement of goods and people across border crossing points.

With the bill’s approval, Pakistan would become the third South Asian country, after Bangladesh and India, to have a land port authority. The Bangladesh Land Port Authority was created in 2002, while India did so in March 2012.

“The House discussed and passed the Pakistan Land Port Authority Bill, 2025,” the NA’s official X account said. The bill was moved by Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry on behalf of Interior Minister Mohsin Raza Naqvi.

Once approved by the Senate and signed by President Asif Ali Zardari, the bill will establish the Pakistan Land Port Authority, which would function as a statutory body responsible for inter-agency coordination to facilitate the movement of goods and people across border crossing points.

As MNA Ali Zahid, who was chairing the session, ordered the clause-by-clause reading of the bill, PPP’s Syed Naveed Qamar noted that his party had reservations on some clauses.

“The legislative committee of the party went through the bill and suggested a whole number of amendments in the bill to make it a better authority,” Qamar, chairman of the NA’s Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, said.

“[…] We have accepted the bill after going through a lot of deliberations and negotiations with the committee,” Qamar noted.

On the invitation of Zahid, Qamar read out amendments to at least 12 clauses of the legislation, each of which Chaudhry said he had no objection to. They were individually moved before the House and voted in favour of, and subsequently, the bill was passed as well.

The Pakistan Land Port Authority Bill

The PPP government made the first attempt to establish a land port authority in 2012 under the ambit of the commerce ministry, while the PTI government made the second attempt in 2021.

The PML-N government had also discussed the matter during its previous tenure in 2016, with various models of upgraded border posts for covered cargo at Jamrud, Taftan and Sost mulled.

In December 2024, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar moved the bill on behalf of Naqvi, but at the time, Deputy Speaker Ghulam Mustafa Shah had not referred it to the relevant committee.

The proposed legislation will provide a framework for the declaration, regulation, security and oversight of all land ports for promoting trade, fostering free competition, implementing border control and protecting the country’s strategic interests.

The port authority will establish a robust mechanism to carry out effective coordination with border agencies for trade facilitation in pursuance of commitments under international agreements and conventions for improved land port efficiency and regional port competitiveness.

The bill also proposes the establishment of a 16-member governing council for supervising the authority.

Currently, there is no single agency for the coordinated functioning of various government authorities and service providers at international border points. This lack of coordination sometimes causes a delay in the flow of goods and passengers.

High-tech equipment is also needed to be installed at land ports to check illegal immigration and smuggling of goods.