Pakistan to start monitoring cargo on Afghanistan-India route from Feb

KARACHI: From February, Pakistan will start monitoring India-bound goods transiting through its territory from Afghanistan, officials said on Thursday.
Except for fresh fruits and vegetables, all Afghan cargo crossing the Wagah border or going through seaports will require “containers of international specification,” said Sarfraz Ahmed Warraich, director general of Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) at the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
“All vehicles carrying the containerized cargo will be subjected to tracking and monitoring,” he said at a press conference in Karachi.
According to ATT officials, the requirements are in accordance with the Afghanistan Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA) agreement signed in 2010 to cover the movement of Afghanistan’s external trade through Pakistan.
The agreement allows trucks to transport Afghan cargo to India through Pakistan up to the Wagah border, from where Indian trucks deliver the goods to their intended destinations. Pakistan does not facilitate the transportation of goods from India to Afghanistan by land.
Tracking devices from an FBR-licensed company will be installed on all containers. The containers will be sealed by Pakistani customs personnel.
Currently, according to FBR officials, all commercial goods in the Afghan transit trade, except for cigarettes and auto parts, are allowed without restrictions.
Warraich said that the volume of transit trade between Afghanistan and India has been rising exponentially since July 2018, following the imposition of sanctions on Iran. “Afghan transit trade through Pakistan is around 30 percent of Afghanistan’s total trade, while through Iran it is 40 percent. The rest is carried through other countries.”
US President Donald Trump in May 2018 passed the Iran sanctions as the US withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal. The sanctions came into effect in November 2018.
“The transit trade between Afghanistan and India through Pakistan was worth between Rs15 billion and Rs20 billion before the last fiscal year, but it increased to Rs38 billion (approximately $54 million) in FY 2018-19,” Warraich said.
Pakistan-Afghanistan trade increased from $1 billion to $2.3 billion in FY2018-19, with cargo transported through the Torkham and Chaman crossings, he added.
Pakistani traders have long been complaining about the misuse of ATT as exported goods come back to Pakistan or never reach their intended destinations. To address this issue, Pakistan started to fence its border with Afghanistan.