Peshawar          -        The Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry has demanded waiver/refund of detention and demurrage charges, especially for the period from March 25 to April 30, where applicable, to safeguard importers from incurring extensive losses due to border closure and delayed release amid COVID-19. 

According to a PAJCCI press release, Pakistan-Afghanistan transit and bilateral trade faced several challenges amid COVID-19 including procedural delays and enhanced time taken to cross border further aggravated by unavailability of trackers, ineffective scanners at the borders, extensive quarantine procedures that not only increased time taken but also cost of doing business. 

Chairman PAJCCI Zubair Motiwala, while acknowledging Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision to facilitate Afghanistan in these distressing times, mentioned that procedural hindrances, the speed of clearance, shortage and delay in issuance of trackers, exorbitant demurrage and detention charges and load of stuck consignments have limited the reaping of the benefits and said such delays and lack of facilitation drains the effect and poses a grave situation that is not only financially devastating but also deteriorates the socioeconomic ties for the future.