ISLAMABAD: More than 270 trucks loaded with onions from Afghanistan were awaiting clearance at the Torkham border for entering into Pakistan on Saturday.

Meanwhile, shortage of the vegetable in wholesale market has pushed up its price as high as Rs100 per kg in some cities from Rs50.

On Saturday, few trucks managed to reach the outskirts of Peshawar after travelling a distance of 54km from the Torkham border. However, around 272 trucks full of onions were stuck over a distance of four kilometres from the Torkham border gate to Michani Customs Post. The average weight of onions per truck is 35 tonnes, suggesting that some 9,520 tonnes of onions are loaded on these vehicles.

The government recently moved the clearance post from the border area to Michani to facilitate clearance of transit goods.

Importers are desperate for early clearance since they fear that the onions would end up getting damaged.

Customs officials unaware of reasons for the delay

“We don’t know the reasons for long queue,” an official of the Customs told Dawn. Majority trucks are loaded with onions while some are carrying tomatoes, the official said. “There are also trucks with onions bound for transit to India via the Wagah border,” he added.

Afghanistan has produced surplus onion and tomatoes, allowing Kabul to exporting these vegetables to Pakistan and India. While the price of onions reached Rs100 per kg, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday tweeted that starting Monday in coming week, his government will use all the resources at the disposal of the state to bring down food prices.

According to Customs, the Federal Board of Revenue has made a payment system under which agents or importers are required to have a sufficient amount in their accounts for duty payments.

The delay is also because of non-availability of the required amount, according to the Customs.

At the same time the Customs department has not removed the provision of additional sales tax of three per cent which was waived for importers despite the order of Peshawar High Court. The importers will have to apply individually and the Customs official will process their cases manually for tax exemption, causing undue delay in clearance.

The government charges 17pc sales tax and 2pc income tax on import of onion, while there is 2pc income tax on the import of tomatoes.

The only justification that came from the Customs was that Afghan government allowed export of onion cargo trucks in great number on Saturday which lead to congestion on the Pakistani side.

Member Customs Tariq Huda told Dawn that Pakistan Customs is working on 24-hours basis with all border agencies and Afghan Customs to clear the backlog.

“We are making all efforts to ensure that Afghan exports — especially edible/agricultural produce — are cleared as expeditiously as possible,” he said.

According to the Customs data, 436 cargo trucks with onion imports and 584 cargo trucks carrying tomatoes were cleared from October 1 to 9. The total quantity of onions stood at 15,260 tonnes and tomatoes at 20,440 tonnes.

With the clearance of cargo trucks till Saturday, the total imports of onion from Afghanistan reached 26,764 tonnes, the Customs official claimed. At the same time, tomato imports have reached 22,035 tonnes during the same period.

Customs Collector Appraisement Peshawar Muhammad Saleem told Dawn that all those trucks where goods declarations are filed were cleared today. However, he said, that his department has nothing to do with the vehicles parked along the highway.

According to the spokesperson of Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFSR), tomatoes and onions are produced by small farmers. The production is on a seasonal basis. The biggest producer is Sindh, followed by Balochistan, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Pakistan was importing tomatoes and onions worth Rs17bn per annum until 2017. Due to the phyto-sanitary measures implementation, Pakistan has stopped imports since 2018 and Pakistan remains self-sufficiency.

The MNFSR spokesperson claimed that production was damaged due to harsh weather in the range of 25pc to 30pc. In Sindh, the crop is damaged by 25pc. “We are meeting our shortages in demand from Afghanistan and Iran,” the official said.

Pakistan’s per month tomato requirement is 65,000 to 75,000 tonnes. “We produce 1.2 million tonnes tomato annually,” he said, adding that the demand was mostly met through domestic produce. He claimed the local production will fill the gap in the next 30 days.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2020