Pakistan refuses transport of Afghan goods to India

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has refused to allow Afghanistan transportation of its goods through the Wagah border to India, arguing that this provision was not included in the bilateral transit agreement between the two countries.
The official minutes of the recently-held Afghan-Pakistan Transit Trade Coordination Authority (APTTCA) meeting in Islamabad available with ‘The News’ states that the Pakistan side stated that Afghan-registered trucks were allowed to carry fruits and vegetables up to Wagah for export to India on a Letter of Guarantee issued by the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, Afghanistan. They agreed that necessary amendments would be made in the rules to include all exports rather than only fruits and vegetables.
The Pakistan side, according to official minutes, agreed to allow the Afghan trucks holding a letter of guarantee to go up to Wagah by Jan 20, 2015.The Afghan side proposed that all types of financial securities pertaining to the entry and movement of commercial vehicles should be waived on a reciprocal basis to boost the trade. The Pakistani side agreed that the proposal would be examined and decided in the next APTTCA meeting.
Pakistan agreed that on their way back, the Afghan trucks could pick export cargo from Pakistan to Afghanistan. However, it was clarified that in terms of Article 21(b) of Protocol I of APTTA, 2010, which deals with the matters of transportation to or from third country which is not a signatory of APTTA, transportation of goods to or from third country is only allowed in case both the contracting states (Pakistan and Afghanistan) have transportation of goods agreement with that third non-contracting state (India). Since there is no such agreement, hence, the Afghan request to carry their goods beyond Wagah was not tenable under the APTTA, 2010.
Various options were discussed to reduce time and cost in transit trade, including 100 percent scanning, installation of trackers on prime movers and containers and multiple guarantees.It was agreed that requirement of scanning of Afghan transit cargo will be reduced to 20 percent subject to risk profiling and introduction of Risk Management System. It was agreed that Risk Management System would be established within next three months; cost of trackers on prime movers will not be charged from importers. This cost will be borne by the bonded carrier companies.
Moreover, the Pakistan Customs will try to reduce the cost of trackers on containers; there will be a single revolving guarantee charged from the importers; number of bonded carriers to handle the Afghan transit cargo will be increased to provide competition and thereby reduce cost; condition for one consignment-one carrier will be relaxed.One consignment on two carriers or two consignments on one carrier will be allowed.