Pakistan fined Afghan traders a combined $50 million over the past three months for their containers which were stalled at Karachi port, Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) said on Sunday. According to ACCI officials, Pakistan had forcibly stopped the containers for about 85 days and later demanded daily fines for the containers stalled the port space. ACCI Deputy Director Khan Jan Alokozai said Pakistan had repeatedly ignored the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Agreement (APTA) and was benefiting from the fines. “We pay almost $1 million a day [in fines], and so far we have paid $50 million. Pakistan is ignoring APTA, which had anticipated such transit problems between the two neighboring countries and had suggested some strategies to solve the likely problems,” he said. He said that with around 3700 containers carrying Afghan-owned goods, including foodstuffs, stalled at the port, the fines were expected to continue. Alokozai pointed out that Article 23 in the APTA says, “The two sides must attempt to strengthen the transit of goods and give priority to the transport of business goods and should avoid unnecessary delays.” Afghan traders, whose containers were stalled at the port, blamed the Afghan government for failing to enforce the contents of the agreement. “We pay $160 for each container [per day]. Neither the Ministry of Commerce nor the Ministry of Finance was addressing the problem. Therefore, we have failed to implement APTA,” trader Afghan trader Ahmad Shah Ahmadi said. However, the Ministry of Commerce and Industries spokesman said the Afghan government was making serious efforts to resolve the issue. Pakistan had previously stopped Afghan containers at Torkham port and received $7 million from Afghan traders in fines. Afghanistan mostly exports its goods via Pakistan and Iran ports but recently, the Afghan government had looked at using the middle Asian countries’ ports to avoid the problem of trade being blocked.
What can you expect from a down rotten corrupt Executive and Parliament that controls the daily operations of the Government. Every third degree method must have been used to extort money from the Afghan traders and government to fill their dirty pockets!!
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