Senior Vice President (SVP) Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI), Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi, has expressed reservations over the new Afghan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA) and called for the abolition of SRO 121 with immediate effect and beside container cargo also allow Loose Cargo of Pakistan Railways for transportation of goods to Afghanistan.
In a statement issued here on Sunday, he further demanded that instead of the abolition of the wrong enrollment of the container, seal or vehicle numbers by key punch operation (KPO), they should release Form D and rectify it within a period of six to eight days and expel it from border customs station after de-sealing. Furthermore, he also called for granting powers to Deputy Director Headquarters for the rectification of VIR in the transit trade system as these goods have to reach Afghanistan in any circumstances. Therefore, the route option should remain open and instead of Good Declaration (GD), the route should be manifested.
He said that there used to be long queues on the terminal at the time of scanning, therefore, the examination of the transit goods should be allowed in any part of the port area, so the clearance process should not be affected due to the break down of scanner, other equipment or for any other reason.
Similarly, instead of Customs Insurance guarantee through T-One and Check Post Certificate, the T-One Customs should release duplicate copies of the GD. Mr. Sarhadi, who is also a former Senior Vice President (SVP) of Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) said that each shipping company used to demand a security deposit of Rs.0.5 million to Rs.0.8 million from clearing agents for taking any container to Afghanistan and the payment of such huge amount is difficult for any agent to make.
He also proposed the clearance of security deposit through insurance guarantee. He further said that shipping companies are charging each container to the tone of Rs.10,000 to Rs.15,000 under head of detention charges which is sheer injustice as the price of the container used to be from Rs.0.2 million to Rs.0.3 million and in case of delay in any container then the detention charges surpass even the price of the detained container. Therefore, the detention charges should also be fixed at a minimum level as per Customs Order.
Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi said that presently Afghanistan bound export cargo undergoes strict examination and called for the softening of examination. The delegation said that in case of the misappropriation of any goods, Pakistan Customs collects its customs duty from the insurance company despite charging Rs.6664 per container by TPL. There is no redressal for the loss of the traders, in all circumstances traders are compelled to pay the customs duty.
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