By Ashrafuddin Pirzada
LANDIKOTAL: Torkham customs clearing agents and transporters on Thursday demanded the immediate restoration of the previous mechanism for clearing coal trucks arriving from Afghanistan via the Torkham border crossing until a permanent solution is reached regarding the Certificate of Origin (COO).
Addressing a press conference at the district press club, Landikotal, the president of the Torkham customs clearing agents association, Mujeeb Khan Shinwari, flanked by Ablan Shinwari, Amjad Shinwari and Al-Ittihad transport association vice president Maulana Hazratullah, said that hundreds of coal-laden trucks were stranded on both sides of the Torkham border, resulting in severe financial losses and hardship for traders, drivers and other workers involved in cross-border trade.
They said that several rounds of meetings had been held with officials from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan, the Afghan ambassador and the Ministry of Commerce, who assured them that both countries would soon hold a joint session to finalize a permanent solution to the COO dispute.
Mujeeb Khan Shinwari stressed that the certificate of origin should be limited to determining the origin of goods only, but not their value or weight. He said that each country maintains its own customs valuation system. He urged Pakistani authorities to follow the rules of the Ministry of Commerce, FBR and remove additional obstacles created under the current procedure.
Transporters said the COO requirement became a point of contention in recent weeks after stricter implementation disrupted the smooth flow of coal imports from Afghanistan. They said coal was a key import item for Pakistan from Afghanistan, used heavily in local industries, especially cement manufacturing.
Hazratullah said the stricter enforcement has led to long queues of vehicles at the Torkham crossing, impacting business activities and creating unrest among transporters and clearing agents.
In their concluding remarks, the speakers appealed to the Ministry of Commerce, FBR’s operational member and other relevant authorities to immediately restore the old system to ease the crisis until a mutual and long-term framework is agreed upon between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
