PESHAWAR, Nov 22: The uninterrupted flow of the smuggled petroleum and related products from Afghanistan in the country has caused a loss  of more than Rs5 billion to the national exchequer, official sources told Dawn on Thursday.

Expressing its concern over the unabated smuggling of Iranian  petrol, being smuggled through Pak-Afghan border, the federal government has directed the law enforcing agencies to take action against the smugglers, the sources said. 

A meeting held in Islamabad which was presided over by the Finance Minister, Shaukat Aziz, and attended by the federal ministers of interior,  petroleum and commerce divisions decided to take measures to check the  smuggling. It was also attended by the chief secretaries of the NWFP and Balochistan and the heads of the paramilitary forces.

Mr Shaukat Aziz said that the smuggling was causing a loss of over Rs5 billion to the national exchequer.

The meeting was informed that in many tribal areas of Balochistan and the NWFP the supply of imported POL products to the petrol stations had almost ceased.

The meeting decided that the Customs, Police, Frontier Corps and khasadar force would be asked to effectively check the entrance of tankers and trucks at border posts, carrying smuggled POL products.

The meeting also decided that the sale of POL products on roadside shops would be stopped and in the villages it would be regulated through the district administration by issuing licenses.

It was decided that the seized POL products would be provided to the civil armed forces and the police on terms to be decided by the  provincial governments.

The Provincial Crisis Management Centre, the police and the Frontier  Corps would report the daily seizures of the POL products and the people arrested.