ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan have almost neared on the finalization of draft of the Trilateral Transit Agreement among the three countries (PATTTTA).
In January this year Pakistan handed the draft of the proposed Pakistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan Trilateral Transit Agreement (PATTTTA) to both the Afghan and Tajik governments and sought their seeking proposals. The working group headed by Additional Secretary Ministry of Commerce dispatched the said draft to the relevant ministries of Afghanistan and Tajikistan. In the meantime, three governments held internal discussions on the said draft.
A well placed source at Ministry of Commerce, Thursday, told this scribe here that three countries had almost neared on a consensus on the draft of proposals for the said trilateral agreement on the ongoing negotiations of the working groups of all three countries at Dushanbe.
Pakistani delegation comprising four higher officials from the MoC and most probably some other departments or wings is being led by Additional Secretary Ministry of Commerce (MoC) Rubina Athar in the two day’s negotiations.
MoC had made slight amendments in the existing Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA) and forwarded to the relevant governments and it would not be named as Pakistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan Trilateral Transit Trade Agreement (PATTTTA). With the passage of time this agreement would also be extended to other Central Asian States because provisions in this regards have been incorporated.
In the beginning of January this year, Pakistan and Afghanistan held two days negotiations to review Afghanistan Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA) and to search out avenues of signing Trilateral Transit Trade Agreement (ATTA) amongst Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan with an aim to enhance trade volume up to $5 billion over the next three years.
Official experts of both countries overviewed trade relations among Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan and discussed prospects of early signing of Trilateral Transit Trade Agreement. The officials of both sides also deliberated on ways of fostering co-operation in regional connectivity through road, rail and communication links.
The issues including notification of APTTA Rules by Afghanistan, electronic data inter-change, WeBOC, working days, railways and cost of transit were discussed in detail. Key operational issues like transit issues and facilitations at ports of Karachi, training of Afghan officials for expeditious registration under WeBOC, pending insurance guarantees with Afghanistan, single goods declaration format both for transit consignments to Central Asian States (CARs), payment of 110 per cent guarantee on Pakistan’s transit consignments to CARs, requirement of transit permit and payment of $100 per consignment each from Pakistan as well as transit issues at Wagha border also came under discussions.
All three sides also discussed Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), joint business council, multiple visa entry for Pakistani workers, Custom Co-operation Agreement (CCA) between ACD and FBR, automation of the good declaration at Torkham for Pakistani exports and verified invoices for goods entering Afghanistan.
The existing APTTA allowed Afghan trucks to carry export cargo to Pakistani seaports and the Wagah border post to Indian as well as it also permitted Afghan trucks on their return will be permitted to carry goods from Pakistan to Afghanistan. And this proviso of APTTA was also challenged in Lahore High Court on account that the agreement was the violation of Article 2-A of the Constitution.
Pakistan soon after the signing of APTTA made it clear to Afghanistan that bilateral transit trade pact would not entitle Indian exports to Afghanistan via the Wagah land route. Later the source said that Customs authorities of Pakistan and Afghanistan have jointly drafted a new customs-protocol under the APTTA for the regulation of transit traffic through two countries.
The customs control and transit regime of Pakistan and Afghanistan has been specified in Protocol-III of the new APTTA and the proposed procedure would ensure security of transit cargo destined for Afghanistan and the monitoring of the consignments to check their inflow back into Pakistan.
Similarly, article 10 of APTTA draft provided exemption from routine physical Customs inspection, however, in case any irregularity, the suspected in view of explicit tampering of seals or locks of the transport unit or some reliable specific intelligence, physical inspection en route would be allowed.
Pakistani Customs authorities were allowed to break the seals to perform a physical inspection of the cargo en route but they shall affix new seals and record this action in the Transit and Inland Customs Clearance Documents.
