KHYBER: After a four-year pause, sugar exports to Afghanistan have resumed, with more than 400 cars passing through the Torkham border in the past four days.
Sources claim that Pakistan just approved the transfer of 150,000 tons of sugar to Afghanistan, with a deadline of August 15 for the cargo procedure to be completed.
Agents in charge of customs clearance at Torkham informed Dawn that approximately 100 cars, each with 33 tons of sugar, entered Afghanistan four days prior, and that number continued to rise.
According to officials, the government imposed the prohibition on sugar exports four years ago in order to handle shortages and manage national pricing.
To stop the smuggling of sugar, the police and the administration of the Khyber tribal area have set up several checkpoints along the Peshawar-Torkham Highway. Following the prohibition, it apprehended numerous sugar smugglers and confiscated a significant amount of sugar from warehouses in Torkham and Landi Kotal.
In four days, more than 400 cars cross the Torkham border.
The illicit transportation of sugar across the border, where there is a huge demand for it, is accomplished by traders using a variety of means, including porters and young, minor daily wagers. As a result, police were unable to stop the smuggling of sugar.
The lifting of the embargo has caused a sigh of relief among sugar exporters and transporters, who claim it hurt them hard.
Contrary to the Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce’s claim that the Taliban government has banned the supply of fruits and vegetables to Pakistan following a recent increase in import duties by Pakistan, customs clearing agents and fruit importers at Torkham told Dawn that 100–115 vehicles carrying fruits and vegetables were arriving in Pakistan from Afghanistan every day.
According to sources, no notice of a prohibition was received, and fruits and vegetables were being imported from Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, hundreds of empty Afghan trucks without temporary admittance documents (TAD) have clogged the border road, stranding multiple-goods vehicles on the Pakistani side of the border for the past two to three days.
Afghan drivers without a TAD were prohibited from transporting commercial consignments, according to agreements between trade and security officials in both countries, transporters in Torkham and Landi Kotal said Dawn.
They added that without the required paperwork, Pakistani carriers were also prohibited from importing products from Afghanistan.
Transporters from both Pakistan and Afghanistan who lacked a passport or visa were to be granted TAD in order to operate for a predetermined amount of time. In addition to paying a $100 charge for the six-month TAD, the transporters had to present their national identity cards, vehicle registration numbers, and the most recent photos.
Previously, transporters without legitimate travel documents were prohibited from entering both nations.
According to transporters, almost 80% of their colleagues—both Afghan and Pakistani—still do not have TADs because they either do not know about the registration process or cannot afford the registration price in dollars.
