The Pakistan government needs to adopt safety measures and make necessary arrangements for strict monitoring so that the transit trade facility likely to be offered to Tajikistan in near future, may not become another source of smuggling like the Afghan Transit Trade (ATT).
Chairman of FBR Liaison Committee of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Aftab Ahmad Vohra told Business Recorder here Thursday that the local businessmen had grave concern over the possible increase in the smuggling because of the under review transit trade access to Tajikistan.
Indeed, Pakistan needed to become trade corridor for the Central Asian Republics, which would be in the best economic interest of the country, besides inducing foreign investment into the country, he said. But the Afghan Transit Trade's experience had forced the local businessmen to foresee negative impact of the transit trade facility to Tajikistan in the absence of effective measures to check the smuggling into Pakistan, he added.
He said the Afghan Transit Trade had been a major source of smuggling into Pakistan and hitting the local industry badly. A number of containers, filled in with the imported goods, were usually offloaded within the territory of Pakistan without any check and the fact could be evident from the local markets flooded with the imported/smuggled goods, he added.
The Tajik Ambassador is likely to meet Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim to discuss various matters relating to the transit trade and the use of the port's warehouse facility. The Commerce Ministry's team would hold meeting with the Tajik Ambassador after doing necessary homework. He urged the government to direct the agencies and departments concerned to devise an appropriate strategy that could help minimise the chance of misuse of the transit trade facility.
He was of the view that the government, prior to entering into any contract with the Tajik government, should develop understanding under which the customs duty/security was received at Karachi port and refunded at the Torkhum border. Besides, the law-enforcement agencies should also make arrangements for installing/fixing trackers to monitor the route of the vehicles, carrying transit trade consignments to Afghanistan or Tajikistan, Vohra said.
Moreover, scanners should also be installed at Karachi port and Torkhum border that would help avert any attempt of offloading of goods into Pakistan. Such containers, firstly, should be scanned at Karachi port for the purpose of matching the same photo at the Torkhum border, he added. He said such steps would not only help in eradicating smuggling through the existing Afghan Transit Trade, but would also Tajikistan transit trade facility in future.
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