PESHAWAR: Afghan Consul General Hafiz Mohibullah Shakir has opposed imposition of infrastructure development cess (IDC) by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on goods being transported to Afghanistan under the Transit Trade Agreement.

The Afghan envoy expressed these view while talking to a delegation of Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI), which called on him under the leadership of its senior vice-president Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, according to a press release issued here on Friday.

Other members of the delegation included Farooq Ahmad, director PJACCI Imtiaz Ahmad Ali, former SCCI president Faiz Ahmad Faizi and former vice-president Shuja Mohammad.

Mr Shakir was assisted by transport attache Maulvi Said Mohammad Faiz and public relations officer Shahid Khan.

Talking to businessmen, the Afghan envoy said enforcement of any levy on transit trade was against the Geneva Convention, under which landlocked countries like Afghanistan were facilitated for import of goods.

Mr Shakir said such decisions had negative impact on bilateral trade and regional economy.

He demanded of the KP government to fully abolish IDC, which was earlier two per cent, but has now been slashed to one per cent.

Earlier, the PAJCCI delegation members raised the issues traders faced while transporting goods through Afghanistan.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Sarhadi said trucks travelling from Pakistan were only allowed up to Jalalabad city, and for onward transport, Afghan trucks were hired, which is increasing costs and logistical complexities.

Furthermore, Mr Sarhadi said the Afghan government required a security deposit equal to 110pc of the customs value of goods being transported. “This deposit is held in the National Bank of Afghanistan and inflicts a significant financial burden on traders,” he added.

While objecting to the IDC levy, Mr Sarhadi said the charges imposed by KP government on all the inward and outward transit goods was contrary to the Geneva Convention, which allows excess to all the goods in transit to landlocked countries.

He demanded of the government to waive off this levy from all kinds of export, import and transit trade goods without delay.

The Afghan consul general held out an assurance that he would take up the issue with the officials concerned.

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2024