Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has allowed National Logistic Cell (NLC) to hire private trucks to dispose off thousands of containers loaded with Afghanistan-bound goods under Afghan Transit Trade (ATT).
Talking to Business Recorder, Chairman of Sarhad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCI) and Standing Committee on Railway and Dryport, Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi said that the permission has been given for a specific period of two months. Under the permission, NLC has been asked to hire trucks of bonded carriers to lift the goods stranded at Karachi Dry port.
Sarhadi said that the missing of Afghanistan bound containers had created a lot of difficulties for the businessmen and the FBR officials were hesitating to clear the goods. He informed that the majority of the containers went missing were supply goods for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) and international security assistance force (ISAF) in Afghanistan while the number of commercial containers was nominal. He said that the situation had deteriorated with the involvement of NLC as under ATT Treaty of 1965, only Pakistan Railways were allowed to carry the transit goods. He said that there were minor cases of theft and there was no case of the unsealing of the containers when it was carried out through Pakistan Railways. He added that NLC had failed in the correct handling of transit goods as it hired private trucks that resulted in the deteriorating of the situation.