Customs stations not set up due to Waziristan operation

The ongoing operation of security agencies and prevailing law and order situation in the troubled North and South Waziristan Agencies have prevented the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) from establishing two more customs stations in the tribal belt, sources in Customs department told Business Recorder here on Monday.
The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) had two years back decided to establish 11 customs stations along the porous Pak-Afghan border in the tribal belt to check smuggling and promote national exports. However, only nine have been operational while the remaining two have yet to be established.
"The security forces operation and the prevailing law and order situation in North and South Waziristan agencies had prevented us to establish the proposed customs stations at Datta Khel in North Waziristan and at Angoor Ada in South Waziristan," customs sources said.
Of the newly established nine customs stations operating on Pak-Afghan border include three in Kurram Agency, two in North Waziristan, and one each at Nawa-Pass, Bajaur Agency and Arando (Chitral), and in a provincially administered tribal area of NWFP.
The situation in North and South Waziristan is volatile. "As the situation improves, CBR would take steps for establishing the remaining customs stations," they added.
The idea of establishing the new customs stations was floated to keep surveillance on the illegal movement of goods across the border and promoting of legal trade. "Every downward stream on the Pak-Afghan border was being used as smuggling route," sources said.
It is a worth mentioning that despite the claims of CBR and the establishment of the customs stations along uninterrupted flow of smuggled goods continues into Pakistan markets.
"The matter is not limited to the goods brought under Afghan-Transit Trade (ATT) and re-smuggled into Pakistan, which is also going on a high scale, but more than 50-tons Afghanistan-bound ghee is being sold in the local market daily, which is a big source of money minting for both customs and police officials," a local ghee dealer said.