KHYBER: Sugar export to Afghanistan has resumed after a four-year suspension, with over 400 vehicles crossing the Torkham border in the last four days.
According to sources, Pakistan recently allowed the export of 150,000 tons of sugar to Afghanistan, setting the August 15 deadline for the completion of the shipment process.
Customs clearing agents at Torkham told Dawn that around 100 vehicles, each carrying 33 tons of sugar, crossed into Afghanistan four days ago and more thereafter.
The government slapped the sugar export ban four years ago to address shortages and control prices in the country, according to officials.
The administration of the Khyber tribal district, along with the police, has established a number of checkposts along the Peshawar-Torkham Highway to prevent sugar smuggling. It seized a large quantity of sugar from warehouses in Torkham and Landi Kotal and arrested many sugar smugglers after the ban was imposed.
Over 400 vehicles cross Torkham border in four days
However, authorities failed to check sugar smuggling as traders used multiple ways, including young and minor daily wagers and porters, to illegally send the sweetener across the border where its demand is high.
Sugar exporters and transporters have heaved a sigh of relief at the lifting of the ban, which, they insist, hit them hard.
Meanwhile, customs clearing agents and fruit importers at Torkham told Dawn that 100-115 vehicles with fruits and vegetables were reaching Pakistan from Afghanistan daily, contradicting the Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce’s statement about the Taliban government’s ban on their supply to Pakistan after a recent import duty hike by Pakistan.
Sources said that fruits and vegetables were being imported from Afghanistan, with no notices of a ban received.
Meanwhile, vehicles carrying multiple goods have been stuck on the Pakistani side of the border for the last two to three days due to hundreds of empty Afghan vehicles without temporary admission documents (TAD) having congested the border road.
Transporters in Torkham and Landi Kotal told Dawn that Afghan drivers without TAD were not allowed to transport trade consignments, as agreed upon by trade and security officials of both countries.
They also said that Pakistani transporters, too, were not allowed to import goods from Afghanistan without the necessary documentation.
Pakistan and Afghanistan had agreed to issue TAD to transporters from both sides who didn’t possess visas or passports to operate for a fixed period. The transporters were required to produce their national identity cards, vehicle registration numbers and the latest pictures, besides depositing a $100 fee for the six-month TAD.
Earlier, both countries barred the entry of transporters without valid travel documents.
Transporters claim that around 80 per cent of their colleagues, both Afghan and Pakistani, still don’t have TADs due to either an inability to afford the registration fee in dollars or limited awareness of the registration process.
Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2024
