Transit goods transportation under TAD plan assured

PESHAWAR: Businessmen dealing in Pak-Afghan trade have been assured of allowing transit goods transportation under the Temporary Admission Document (TAD) plan.

The assurance was held out by Maria Kazi, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce while speaking virtually at a seminar here on the Implementation of Temporary Admission Document (TAD), said a press release issued here.

The joint secretary gave this assurance in response to the demands of the business community seeking approval for the transportation of transit trade goods under the TAD.

The seminar was organized by Trade Development Authority and was attended by Noman Bashir, Director, TDAP, Arbab Qaisar, Director (Transit Trade), Customs Deptt Peshawar, Coordinator Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi, commercial and transport attaches of Afghan Consulate General, Manzoor Elahi, President, Transporters Association Torkham, Azeemullah Khan, Deputy Director, TDAP, Zahid Mehmood, and others.

Director, the Transit Trade Customs Department, Arbab Qaiser gave a presentation about the working of TAD and its objectives and benefits.

He said the government took this decision for the facilitation of the business community of both countries and to improve the volume of trade between the two countries and in this entire region.

Currently, the plan has been implemented for one year and its future would be decided on evaluation of its progress and benefits, he added.

Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi hailed the decision taken by Pakistan to remove a hurdle in Pak-Afghan trade.

He said the condition of getting the visa for drivers was a very daunting task and created a lot of hardships in trade between the two countries.

Zia said the business community had made the suggestion of issuing special passes to drivers dealing in Pak-Afghan trade and be exempted from obtaining visas after a gap of a few months.

He demanded expansion of TAD on transit trade because hundreds of trucks cross the border on a daily basis and drivers still are facing the same problem of visa restriction.

“Currently, the TAD is confined to trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan and it should also include transport carrying goods under transit trade,” Zia proposed.

It is worth mentioning here that Pakistan on June 2 started the implementation of a plan that allows Afghan transporters to enter on the TAD at border points to facilitate speedy bilateral trade between the two countries.

The agreement between Pakistan and Afghanistan on TAD had been reached as transporters’ documentation and visa conditions were complicated issues that led to the closure of the Torkham border for several days in January, this year.

Currently, transportation of bilateral trade between the two neighboring countries under TAD has been allowed for one year starting from this June.