Peshawar - A confluence of protests, the recently introduced Temporary Admission Document (TAD), and bureaucratic bottlenecks is adversely affecting trade at the Torkham border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
On Wednesday, hundreds of porters and daily wage earners took to the streets, vehemently protesting the alleged harsh treatment meted out by border authorities. Wielding black flags and chanting slogans, the demonstrators marched through Torkham Bazaar to express their grievances.
Simultaneously, the transportation sector is grappling with the fallout of the newly implemented TAD requirement.
Muhammad Younis, President of the Free Tribes Transport Association, and Maulana Hazratullah Shinwari, in a joint press conference, painted a grim picture of the situation. They revealed that hundreds of trucks, both loaded and empty, have been stranded on the Afghan side of the border for the past three weeks due to the stringent TAD rules.
The transporters alleged that the abrupt imposition of the TAD has thrown the entire trade ecosystem into disarray. They urged the authorities to grant a six-month grace period for document processing or revert to the previous system to alleviate the suffering of drivers and transporters.
Speaking to this correspondent, Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi, coordinator of the Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI), echoed the concerns raised by the transporters. He emphasized that the TAD has severely hampered bilateral trade, leading to long queues of cargo-laden vehicles on both sides of the border.
Sarhadi, who is also the president of the Frontier Custom Agents Association (FCCA), proposed a temporary suspension of the TAD requirement to clear the backlog and revitalize trade between the two countries.
The PAJCCI coordinator further revealed that the TAD process is fraught with additional hurdles, such as mandatory payments exceeding the stipulated $100 fee. Moreover, the exemption granted to transit trade goods from the TAD requirement has been rendered ineffective due to the heavy traffic at the border, with authorities demanding additional documentation, including visas.
Sarhadi expressed disappointment over the non-implementation of decisions made during the Pak-Afghan trade talks held in March 2024. These decisions included the reversal of the 100 percent bank guarantee, lifting the ban on 212 items in transit trade, reducing the processing fee to 10 percent, and other trade-facilitating measures.
He lamented that these unfulfilled commitments have led to a significant shift of transit trade from Karachi port to Iranian ports, resulting in massive job losses for customs agents, shipping agents, border workers, transporters, and bonded carriers.