Waiver of Sindh cess: 3,500 containers ready for dispatch to Kabul from October 11

Over 3,500 containers imported under Afghan Transit Trade Service (ATTS) would be ready for clearance and dispatch to Kabul from Monday after the Sindh Government formally announced a temporary waiver of 0.5 percent infrastructure Cess.
The Provincial Excise and Taxation Department, in a notification, said on Friday that in pursuance of the decision taken in the meeting of the Sindh Chief Minister on September 30, the transhipment of ATT goods to Afghanistan might be allowed provisionally without charging the Sindh infrastructure maintenance and development cess chargeable thereto to a period of three months, ending December 31.
The Federal government would be requested to replenish the amount of cess on the above categories, the notification said.
Amir Altaf of Afghan Transit Trade Clearing Agents Group said on Friday that Provincial Excise and Taxation Secretary Abdul Subhan Memon, at a meeting held with Afghan Commercial Attache Mohammad Zia Yari, that in case the Federal government failed to replenish the cess amount, it would be recovered from Afghan importers or their clearing agents.
The meeting was also attended by Qazi Zahid Hussain of the ATT Group.
Amir Altaf said that the issue of cess had not been completely resolved as the Federal government had directed the Sindh government to resolve the matter and waive the cess on ATTS by passing an appropriate resolution in the Sindh Assembly before December 31.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Communications' Port and Shipping Wing has directed the Karachi Port Trust and Port Qasim to waive the demurrage accumulated on the ATTS containers since September when their clearance had stopped due to the imposition of cess by the Sindh government.
Amir Altaf said that the issue of demurrage on held up cargo at the KPT, Karachi International Container Terminal (KICT), Qasim International Container Terminal (QICT) and Pakistan International Container Terminal (PICT) had also been resolved through the Ministry of Communications.
The cutoff dates still have to be decided, he added.
The Afghan importers and their clearing agents have thanked Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and the Ministers for Commerce and Ports Shipping for their efforts in resolving the problem faced by Afghan transit cargo.
The importers and clearing agents also thanked the Chairman, Central Board of Revenue (CBR) and other senior Customs officials, including Ramzan Bhatti and Afzal Bhatti, for their role in resolving the issue.
According to the ATT Group, there are about 3,200 containers held up at the Karachi Port and about 350 at Port Qasim. The clearance of these containers was started in the last week of August till the imposition of cess. The Afghan Transit Trade came to a complete halt on September 1 when the cess was imposed.