Afghan cargo transport from Karachi ports suspended

KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has issued directives to stop cargo transportation under the Afghan transit trade from Karachi ports.

Following the order, all port terminals have begun offloading containers already loaded onto vehicles.

A meeting was held at the Directorate of Transit Trade Headquarters, Customs House Karachi, under chairmanship of Director General (DG) Afghan Transit Trade. The directors of Afghan Transit, Quetta and Peshawar, participated in the meeting via Zoom.

After the meeting, a Customs General Order was issued, stating cargo transportation under Afghan transit trade is being suspended indefinitely, as customs stations at Quetta and Peshawar have no remaining capacity to accommodate additional containers.

All the terminals have been directed to offload containers already loaded on vehicles for Afghan transit trade, cancel all Afghan transit gate passes, and halt the transportation. All the terminals at Karachi Port and Port Qasim have stopped clearance operations for Afghan transit trade.

According to customs sources, there are long queues of TP (transit) containers at South Asia Pakistan Terminal (SAPT), with hundreds of containers loaded on trucks waiting. Many others are stuck en route to Quetta and Peshawar. Drivers are waiting for the border to reopen.