EIF wavier granted for Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD: Government on Wednesday granted a temporary waiver of Electronic Import Form (EIF) for Afghanistan to facilitate trade activities, a statement said.

The waiver, initially granted for 45 days, came as compliance with the directions of the Prime Minister Imran Khan to assist Afghanistan in addressing impending humanitarian and economic crisis.

With the introduction of the new measures, imports from Afghanistan would be possible without the mandatory requirement of Electronic Import Form (EIF) as required by the State Bank of Pakistan.

The decision was taken during a meeting of Afghanistan Inter-Ministerial Coordination Cell (AICC), chaired by National Security advisor, Dr. Moeed Yusuf. The meeting was attended by Pakistan's special envoy to Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq and representatives from the foreign office, ministry of Interior, ministry of Commerce, FBR, and FIA.

As EIFs were not being issued by the corresponding banks to execute transactions for imports, this had led to a situation with long queues of cargo vehicles being stuck at Torkham and Chaman border crossings.

With the new initiative, the government sees a relief for the trader community envisaging that it would help in immediate clearance of hundreds of cargo trucks, which are stuck up at various border crossings due to non-availability of EIF. The step is also expected to strengthen the overall trade volume between the two countries.