‘Record being concealed from appellate forums to hide pilferage of ATTA goods’

LAHORE: Officials involved in pilferage of Afghan Transit Trade Agreement (ATTA) goods conceal departmental record from the appellate forums to protect themselves from disciplinary proceedings, said sources.

Instead, they prefer to issue show-cause notices to the transport companies in haste for shifting responsibility, the sources said, adding most of the customs record confirms safe transportation of transit goods by the registered carriers into Afghanistan under the ATTA of 1965.

They said the issue surfaces only when media reports about missing of cargos to Afghanistan which leads to issuance of show-cause notices to carriers to hush up the matter. According to the sources, the goods are sealed at and removed from the Karachi ports under the supervision of Pakistan Customs to be transported to the Afghan transit sheds. Once the goods are loaded onto railway wagons or vehicles, exclusively for the purposes of transit cargo, the original copy of the Afghan Trust Trade Invoices (ATTI) is completed and handed over to the owner of cargo or his agent, while the duplicate and triplicate copies are dispatched by the Pakistan Customs to the Afghan Customs at Spin Boldak and Torkham.

They said the customs agents of the owner of the goods lodge the Afghan Transit Trade Application and load the container on the listed transport unit which, after scanning, is moved to the designated Pakistan Container Security System (PCCSS) focal point entry. The relevant PCCSS officer after fulfilling the requisite checks issues a single copy of a transport note in Form-A to the driver/ supervisor of the transport unit for the focal point exit. The Form-A is handed over to the PCCSS officer, which is returned to the driver for record. Thereafter, the obligation of the second transport unit commences, who is responsible for moving the container(s) on an Afghan registered vehicle permitted to enter Afghanistan.

On arrival of the cargo, the Afghan Customs after examining and verifying the cargo retains the duplicate of the corresponding ATTI thereof received from the Pakistan Customs, and returns the triplicate copy to the Customs House, Karachi, with appropriate endorsement certifying the arrival of the goods. This triplicate copy is commonly known as a Cross Border Certificate.

According to the sources, the departmental record complied with all the legal requirements and whenever there is a hue and cry about missing of containers, the department issues show-cause notices to carriers which could not hold ground before the appellate forums.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023