"Suspension of trade with India subsequent to Pulwama incident on Feb 14, 2019, has not curtailed the availability of Indian goods in Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar."
This was stated by Haji Nadeem-ur-Rehman of Pakistan Kiryana Merchants Association (PKMA) while talking to Business Recorder.
He said that although the legal imports of various edible items including dry fruits and spices are banned, with the exception of a few life-saving drugs, however, smuggled goods are freely available in the big markets of the country. There are three main sources of inflows of smuggled goods in the country - Afghan Transit Trade, flow of betel nets through trains and smuggling of goods under the cover of intra Kashmir trade, sources on condition of anonymity said.
Smuggling sources told BR on condition of anonymity that this is not possible without the complicity of law enforcement agencies operating in border areas, customs department as well as other agencies/political agents (levies).
Haji Nadeem ur Rehman further stated that smugglers are supplying dry fruits and spices such as cashew nuts, almonds, red chillies, dried coconut, white and black pepper, cloves, etc all over the country.
An anecdotal survey revealed that traders continue to display Indian products like artificial jewellery, cosmetics etc prominently in their shops claiming that consumers are more interested in purchasing Indian rather than locally produced goods.
The only two import items banned from India that is being implemented are tomatoes and potatoes, stated a fruit vendor Aslam Khan at Islamabad fruit and vegetable market. Pakistan government banned their imports two years ago for fear of disease.
In April 2019, in order to avoid a severe crisis vis-à-vis availability of life-saving drugs in the local market, the government lifted the ban on import of medicines and raw material from India. Two SROs issued by Ministry of Commerce stipulate that the ban on trade with India would remain effective but would not apply to therapeutic products regulated by Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap).
Sources further revealed that during the last two months the verification exercise of goods was carried out in major urban centers by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to identify smuggled items and the scheme being offered would be the last opportunity to businessmen to legalize their smuggled items by paying duty, taxes and penalty/surcharge. As per estimates, the volume of smuggled items ranges from $9 to $10 billion per annum, but these are only guesstimates, sources said.
Recently, Prime Minister Imran Khan approved establishment of Customs Authority to curb smuggling of goods taking place on the borders of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.