Trucks clearance up after e-form condition waived

LANDIKOTAL: The clearance of goods trucks has gone up considerably after the federal government relaxed the import and export policy with Afghanistan by waiving electronic import form (EIF) condition, a senior Customs official said on Sunday.

Additional Collector Customs House, Torkham, Muhammad Tayyab, told journalists that on the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan the exporters and importers had been allowed to get cleared the import goods without the EIF at the Torkham Customs House.

He said the federal government relaxed the import policy on the request of traders and due to the weak economy of Afghanistan and hence Pakistan Customs was asked to facilitate traders.

“On the very first day of removing the EIF condition, the Customs cleared 755 trucks loaded with different import items via the Torkham border”, said Mohammad Tayyab.

He added that over 10,000 trucks were stranded in Afghanistan for various reasons, including the EIF. The official said they would facilitate the stranded trucks to enter Pakistan in the coming days. He said the Torkham Customs had been given the extra charge to expedite import without any hurdle. Mohammad Tayyab said the clearance of trucks had sharply increased after the hard conditions were taken back.

He said the State Bank of Pakistan had imposed the EIF condition on December 13, 2021, for traders to show the form before transporting goods from Afghanistan.

Traders hailed the decision hoping that would boost trade with Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics.