report in The Express Tribune, Oct 10, 2023
ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Commerce was informed on Monday that the government took measures to rectify anomalies in the Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) system, as imports by Afghanistan were six times higher than its exports.
The committee met with its chairman Zeeshan Khanzada in the chair. The meeting took up several matters including the concerns raised by the media regarding the ATT. During the meeting, the commerce secretary gave a briefing on the transit trade.
The commerce secretary explained that Afghan exports were valued at around $1 billion but its imports during the current financial year jumped to $6 billion. “This difference is huge, and we have conveyed this along with statistics to the Afghan government,” he told the committee.
“The Pakistan government has also taken measures, including the prohibition of certain items and the imposition of a 10% processing fee by the FBR [federal Board of Revenue] on sensitive goods in order to rectify anomalies in the Afghan Transit Trade system,” he added.
Besides, he continued, the government had mandated a bank guarantee for Afghan imports, aligning with the requirements imposed by Afghan authorities for the Pakistani products transiting through Afghanistan to the Central Asian Republics.
However, the secretary made it clear that essential commodities had been excluded from the new measures. “The government has made policy decisions, and the current challenge lies in effective enforcement on the ground,” he said. ….
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2440296/anomalies-in-afghan-transit-trade-corrected
