Perishable goods: Afghanistan calls for review on customs duties

[caption id="attachment_539908" align="alignnone" width="1024"] A member of the Afghan security forces keeps watch at the site of an attack in Kabul, Afghanistan August 21, 2018. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail[/caption]

The newly appointed Afghan Commercial Attaché, Mohammad Fawad Arsh has asked the government of Pakistan for review on the customs duties imposed on the import of fresh fruit and other perishable items from Afghanistan.

He was talking to former senior vice president (SVP), Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI), Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi, who called on him here the other day. Deputy Commercial Attaché at Afghan consulate, Dr Hameed Fazil Khel also accompanied the newly appointed Afghan Commercial Attaché.

The Afghan official said that customs duties charged on fresh fruits and other perishable imports from Afghanistan are high that is causing visible decline in bilateral trade between both countries. He called for review the customs duties and handover of its valuation to the local Customs Collectorate like past.

He also called for allowing of Afghan trucks for transportation of goods up to Karachi. So, Pakistani trucks could get forward passage till Central Asia. Chairman, Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), Imtiaz Ahmad Ali was also present on the occasion.

He also talked about sufficient hardships in Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement and called for their redressal and like the past launching of Rail Cargo for Afghan transit trade from Karachi to Peshawar and Karachi to Chaman, abolition of SRO 121 to allow the arrival of loose cargo till Peshawar and Chaman.