ISLAMABAD, June 2: The Foreign Office said on Thursday that Pakistan and Afghanistan had reached an accord on implementation details for their transit trade agreement.

“Pakistan and Afghanistan have finalised, subject to finalisation of procedures, the implementation details of APTTA,” said Foreign Office spokesperson Tehmina Janjua at the weekly media briefing.

A delegation of the Ministry of Commerce visited Afghanistan for discussion on implementation of the transit trade agreement that had been held up because of Pakistan’s demand for bank guarantees from Afghan importers that their consignments wouldn’t be smuggled into Pakistani markets while transiting through its territory.

Other major issues which had been preventing the implementation of the Afghan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement were requirement of sealable trucks and installation of biometric and tracking systems.

The final announcement would be made after the agreement is ratified by the governments of both countries.

It is expected that the agreement, which was originally to take effect on February 12, would become operational within a fortnight.

Pakistan is one of the three major routes used by Afghan importers. Iran and Tajikistan are the other major import routes for the landlocked country.

Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Jaweed Ludin will visit Pakistan from June 6 to 7.

The spokesperson said: “The visit will be a continuation of the process of consultation on bilateral matters and on issues of regional peace and security. Both sides will be working to complete the preparations for a visit by the Afghan President in the near future.”