KARACHI: Pakistan has officially notified a “Business-to-Business (B2B) Barter Trade Mechanism” for trade in goods with Iran, Afghanistan, and Russia, the ministry of commerce said on Friday, allowing state-owned enterprises and private sector entities to engage both in the import and export of goods.
Importers and exporters on the Federal Board of Revenue’s active taxpayers list and subscribed to the Pakistan Single Window (FEW) System would be eligible for barter trade.
“Application for authorization of import and export of goods under the B2B barter trade facility shall be submitted online by the trader or their authorized agent through the online system to the regulatory collector,” the notification said.
The trade of goods under a B2B Barter Trade arrangement will be allowed on the principle of “import followed by export” and export would meet the value of imported goods.
The South Asian nation has identified some 26 goods that can be exported to Afghanistan, Iran and Russia, including milk, cream, eggs and cereal, meat and fish products, fruits and vegetables, rice, salt, pharmaceutical products, finished leather and leather apparel, footwear, steel and sports goods.
The government has notified the products to be imported from Afghanistan, which include fruits and nuts, vegetables and pulses, spices, minerals and metals, coal and its products, raw rubber items, raw hides and skins, cotton, and iron and steel.
From Iran, Pakistani importers are allowed to import fruits, nuts, vegetables, spices, minerals and metals, coal and related products, petroleum crude oil, LNG and LPG, chemical products, fertilizers, article of plastics and rubber, raw hides and skins, raw wool and articles of iron and steel.
From Russia, Pakistani traders will be allowed to import pulses, wheat, coal and related products, petroleum oils including crude, LNG and LPG, fertilizers, tanning and dying extracts, articles of plastic and rubber, minerals and metals, chemicals products, articles of iron and steel, and items of textile industrial machinery.
Reacting to the development, Pakistan’s commerce ministry said in an official statement its top officials held several meetings with high-level delegations of various countries in this regard to make the barter trade system possible.
The statement noted it was “an ideal step” taken by the current administration to stabilize the country’s economy.
“It will not only increase foreign reserves of the country but also increase the quantum of trade,” it added.
The development was also applauded by the local business community.
The Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) said in a statement its years Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said of relentless policy advocacy initiatives for the barter trade with Russia, Iran and Afghanistan had borne fruit.
“We pitched barters trade, border markets and currency swap mechanisms very diligently in tens of top-level meetings with the concerned ministries and relevant governmental institutions over the past three-and-a-half years,” FPCCI president Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said.
He added the business community’s repeated proposals and demands aimed at persuading the government to decisively move forward and enable, facilitate and operationalize the barter trade arrangement with three very important countries.
The FPCCI chief hoped the mechanism would help the economy amid prevailing gaps in Pakistan’s import and export potential.
