Chief Collector of Customs, South, and Director-General of Customs Valuation, Ameer Mohammad Khan Marwat, has said that import duty structure of Afghanistan is comparatively much lower than Pakistan, resulting in huge smuggling of goods from Afghanistan into Pakistan.
Speaking at the annual dinner of Pakistan Soap Manufacturers Association (PSMA) on Friday, he said that Pakistan had suggested concrete steps in the new Afghan Transit Trade Agreement (ATTA) to curb smuggling, including furnishing of bank guarantee.
He said that under ATTA it has been suggested that Afghanistan businessmen will furnish 80 percent bank guarantee, while Pakistan businessmen will provide 5 percent bank guarantee. The Afghan side has several reservations on the proposal, he added. He said that during deliberations on ATTA, Pakistan had said that India was allowing transit trade under similar conditions to Nepal.
He said that not only Afghanistan is dependent on trade through Pakistan, Pakistan also depends on Afghanistan for trade with Central Asian Countries. He assured the soap manufacturers that their problems would be resolved on priority basis. PSMA Chairman Anwer Suhail Razvi said that soap manufacturers were facing some serious problems due to which a number of units were closed. "We are fighting a war of survival", he added. He said that association members also have a number of complaints against shipping companies about their exorbitant charges.