PESHAWAR: Trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan has declined dramatically due to disturbing political ties and administrative tussles related to commerce.
Collector Customs Muhammad Saeed Jadoon agreed that the trade volume between both countries has decreased and the figures of government are not impressive.
“Bilateral trade volume was $1.6 billion during 2014-15, $1.22 billion during 2015-16, $1 billion during 2016-17,” Jadoon said.
The Collector Customs added “this year (trade volume was) $930 million till April 2018,” which clearly shows sharp decline.
“There are several reasons behind the deteriorating Afghan trade, including the imposition of regulatory duty on imports, the return of most of the US and NATO forces from Afghanistan and the Afghanistan-Pak Transit Trade Agreement on which the chamber of commerce was not taken onboard,” said Jadoon
While agreeing about some legitimate concerns, Collector Mohammad Saeed Jadoon said: “Now fresh fruit are allowed to cross the border without quarantine certificates to prevent the food from perishing.”
Along with the issues mentioned above, another one preventing the trade process from taking place seamlessly is the visa policy.
Director of the Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ziaul Haq Sarhadi informed Customs Today that the recently launched Web-Based One Customs (WeBoc) system also delays trade from Pakistan.
But additional Collector Customs at Torkham border Ziaullah Shams told that the system brought transparency to trade activities with Afghanistan. “The system has also helped eliminate any ‘gray area’ that may previously have existed,” Shams said.
A Peshawar-based analyst on economy, Riaz Khan Daudzai, said that tax barriers such as duty/levy and non-tax barriers such as geo-political situation have both affected trade with Afghanistan. “India and Iran have capitalized on the poor relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan,” he added.
