Imran Khan
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kal phir yehi kahy ga balky tab tak chen nhi ayee ga isy jab tak aik or troll shot na mar le
Afghan transit trade'Treaty being used to bypass NATO supply suspension
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kal phir yehi kahy ga balky tab tak chen nhi ayee ga isy jab tak aik or troll shot na mar le
Devil Soul
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Afghanistan transit trade agreement: Treaty being used to bypass NATO supply suspension
By Irfan Ghauri
Published: December 11, 2011
ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR:
Just as Pakistan announced it would revise terms of engagement with the US and Nato, it is now considering doing the same with eastern neighbour Afghanistan, in what appears to be a continued revamping of foreign policy.
The bone of contention this time is the previously hailed Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade agreement, which is allegedly being misused in the wake of Islamabad suspending Nato supplies through the countrys land route.
Pakistans blockade entered a third week on Saturday, the longest closure of the 10-year war.
Pakistani officials believe that the trade agreement is being used to bypass the suspension of supplies in the aftermath of the November 26 Nato attack on military check posts, one of the many steps taken by the government in protest.
Behind closed doors, an official of the foreign office told senators during a recent senate panel meeting that the government is now seriously considering reviewing conditions of the agreement, which allows landlocked Afghanistan to transport goods via Pakistan.
Since the current terms were being violated, new terms of cooperation will be discussed after we complete our own internal exercise, an official said. He added that reports had been received that the agreement was being misused.
The provision of Nato supplies through Pakistan has already caused massive financial damage to the country. According to official records, the Pakistani economy has suffered a loss of Rs55 billion in revenue as a result of missing records of whether 29,000 containers crossed the border or not after being loaded in Karachi. In addition to this crucial missing information, 19,000 Nato containers are also missing on the electronic record of their exit points in Pakistan.
The reported damage caused by the Nato supplies does not end here, however. Recently, Federal Minister for Communication Dr Arbab Alamgir told Senate that the national exchequer had suffered a loss of Rs40 billion in the form of road damages caused by overloaded NATO containers travelling through the Karachi-Chaman and Karachi-Torkham route.
While the Parliamentary Committee on National Security has been tasked by the government to make recommendations for new terms of engagement with the US over the War on Terror, another official revealed that under the existing terms, Pakistan received a paltry Rs410 worth of cargo handling charges per container by NATO. The real profits were in fact being made by a cartel of Afghan contractors according to the official, who refused to divulge the identities of those behind the alleged cartel.
According to international law, it appears that Pakistan may very well revise the terms of the trade agreement with impunity. When asked if it was possible for Pakistan to change the terms of its agreement with Afghanistan once the treaty was signed, Umer Farooq Chaudhry, a lawyer of international law, said In view of national interest, every country can evaluate it. You can tell your Afghan counterparts that your new demand of goods is not a natural demand and we think the treaty is being violated. He added that an arbitration form is always available when a disagreement arises at any stage in a bilateral treaty.
Meanwhile, one senior security official said, Pakistan will reopen the border when public anger cools down and the route is protected. He added, Nato will have to apologise. They will have to provide solid security for the future. (WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM AFP)
Published in The Express Tribune, December 11th, 2011.
By Irfan Ghauri
Published: December 11, 2011
ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR:
Just as Pakistan announced it would revise terms of engagement with the US and Nato, it is now considering doing the same with eastern neighbour Afghanistan, in what appears to be a continued revamping of foreign policy.
The bone of contention this time is the previously hailed Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade agreement, which is allegedly being misused in the wake of Islamabad suspending Nato supplies through the countrys land route.
Pakistans blockade entered a third week on Saturday, the longest closure of the 10-year war.
Pakistani officials believe that the trade agreement is being used to bypass the suspension of supplies in the aftermath of the November 26 Nato attack on military check posts, one of the many steps taken by the government in protest.
Behind closed doors, an official of the foreign office told senators during a recent senate panel meeting that the government is now seriously considering reviewing conditions of the agreement, which allows landlocked Afghanistan to transport goods via Pakistan.
Since the current terms were being violated, new terms of cooperation will be discussed after we complete our own internal exercise, an official said. He added that reports had been received that the agreement was being misused.
The provision of Nato supplies through Pakistan has already caused massive financial damage to the country. According to official records, the Pakistani economy has suffered a loss of Rs55 billion in revenue as a result of missing records of whether 29,000 containers crossed the border or not after being loaded in Karachi. In addition to this crucial missing information, 19,000 Nato containers are also missing on the electronic record of their exit points in Pakistan.
The reported damage caused by the Nato supplies does not end here, however. Recently, Federal Minister for Communication Dr Arbab Alamgir told Senate that the national exchequer had suffered a loss of Rs40 billion in the form of road damages caused by overloaded NATO containers travelling through the Karachi-Chaman and Karachi-Torkham route.
While the Parliamentary Committee on National Security has been tasked by the government to make recommendations for new terms of engagement with the US over the War on Terror, another official revealed that under the existing terms, Pakistan received a paltry Rs410 worth of cargo handling charges per container by NATO. The real profits were in fact being made by a cartel of Afghan contractors according to the official, who refused to divulge the identities of those behind the alleged cartel.
According to international law, it appears that Pakistan may very well revise the terms of the trade agreement with impunity. When asked if it was possible for Pakistan to change the terms of its agreement with Afghanistan once the treaty was signed, Umer Farooq Chaudhry, a lawyer of international law, said In view of national interest, every country can evaluate it. You can tell your Afghan counterparts that your new demand of goods is not a natural demand and we think the treaty is being violated. He added that an arbitration form is always available when a disagreement arises at any stage in a bilateral treaty.
Meanwhile, one senior security official said, Pakistan will reopen the border when public anger cools down and the route is protected. He added, Nato will have to apologise. They will have to provide solid security for the future. (WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM AFP)
Published in The Express Tribune, December 11th, 2011.
Lankan Ranger
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Pakistan to revisit terms for Afghan Transit Trade
Pakistan has decided to revisit the conditions for Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) on the basis of concrete evidence suggesting that the facility was grossly being misused in many ways, official sources told Dawn.
They said since the closure of the route for Nato forces in Afghanistan, there had been instances of Nato supplies reaching the land-locked neighbour in the name of Afghan Transit Trade.
Answering a question, a senior official said there was no immediate timeframe for lifting of embargo on Nato supplies through Chaman and Tourkham borders. Since the current terms have been violated by Nato, new terms of cooperation will be discussed with the United States after our own internal exercise, he remarked.
He said the negotiations on carriage will take into account the colossal loss caused to the roads by heavy Nato containers, if and when a decision was taken to remove restriction on the supplies clamped in the aftermath of attack on two military posts in Mohmand Agency.
He revealed that the government under the previous arrangements was getting only Rs410 per truck for handling and loading at Port Qasim Karachi, while the contactors hired by Nato dominated by Afghan cartel end up making huge profits.
Another source said the government was mulling proposal to levy special tax on Nato trucks even before the November 26 incident. He said the Communications Ministry upset by the losses caused to roads and infrastructure was discussing modalities for establishment of designated check-posts at Chaman and Tourkham borders to collect the amount.
Various parliamentary committees in the recent past had expressed their concern over the damage caused to the roads by Nato containers and recommended levy of special tax on NATO containers.
A huge chunk of budget for repair of the roads is spent on account of damage caused by heavy Nato trucks for about a decade. Before the Nato supply was halted, hundreds of trucks used to cross Tourkham and Chaman borders every day.
About the Afghan Transit Trade, an official said it had remained controversial from the very beginning. It has a history of damaging interests of the local industry on one hand and discouraging legal imports on the other.
He pointed out that the production of televisions in Pakistan quadrupled in four years after inclusion of the item in the negative list for Afghan transit trade in 1996.
Pakistan had signed an agreement with Afghanistan in 1965 to facilitate foreign trade of its land-locked neighbour. The agreement has been massively abused by the unscrupulous
elements to import products way above their actual demand in Afghanistan meant only to push back the products into Pakistan.
The agreement resulted in massive smuggling of black tea, tyres, electronic goods, kitchen items, home appliances and other such goods into Pakistan. Every body knows that Afghans prefer green tea, but black tea in huge quantity was imported only to make money by misusing the facility.
In short, the ATT resulted in a quasi-legal smuggling in many ways. The majority of the imported products booked for Afghanistan just went through the motions never to reach Afghanistan after being rerouted in the border areas of the now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A big quantity also finds its way back into the country flooding the markets in the major urban
centres of the country with the goods imported under the ATT.
With each passing year the abuse increased, pushing products into the local markets which not only undermined the local manufacturing but also the legal imports. While the loss caused to the manufacturing sector forced many foreign investors to close down operations in the country, it also discouraged the legal imports of many items particularly tyres and
spices, due to in-competitive prices. This, in turn, deprived the government of substantial loss in terms of investment, corporate taxes and duties.
The agreement was abused to such an extent that an otherwise necessary service extended to the land-locked country turned it into the major cause for smuggling into Pakistan. It was all the more troubling as it was hard to keep track of the movement of imported goods bound for Afghanistan due to rampant corruption and political influence during all stages
of transit from Karachi, the nations only port-city.
The strong concerns of the manufacturing sector and the importers worst hit by the trade under the cover of ATT had forced the government time and again to make addition in the prohibitive list.
Pakistan to revisit terms for Afghan Transit Trade | Business | DAWN.COM
Pakistan has decided to revisit the conditions for Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) on the basis of concrete evidence suggesting that the facility was grossly being misused in many ways, official sources told Dawn.
They said since the closure of the route for Nato forces in Afghanistan, there had been instances of Nato supplies reaching the land-locked neighbour in the name of Afghan Transit Trade.
Answering a question, a senior official said there was no immediate timeframe for lifting of embargo on Nato supplies through Chaman and Tourkham borders. Since the current terms have been violated by Nato, new terms of cooperation will be discussed with the United States after our own internal exercise, he remarked.
He said the negotiations on carriage will take into account the colossal loss caused to the roads by heavy Nato containers, if and when a decision was taken to remove restriction on the supplies clamped in the aftermath of attack on two military posts in Mohmand Agency.
He revealed that the government under the previous arrangements was getting only Rs410 per truck for handling and loading at Port Qasim Karachi, while the contactors hired by Nato dominated by Afghan cartel end up making huge profits.
Another source said the government was mulling proposal to levy special tax on Nato trucks even before the November 26 incident. He said the Communications Ministry upset by the losses caused to roads and infrastructure was discussing modalities for establishment of designated check-posts at Chaman and Tourkham borders to collect the amount.
Various parliamentary committees in the recent past had expressed their concern over the damage caused to the roads by Nato containers and recommended levy of special tax on NATO containers.
A huge chunk of budget for repair of the roads is spent on account of damage caused by heavy Nato trucks for about a decade. Before the Nato supply was halted, hundreds of trucks used to cross Tourkham and Chaman borders every day.
About the Afghan Transit Trade, an official said it had remained controversial from the very beginning. It has a history of damaging interests of the local industry on one hand and discouraging legal imports on the other.
He pointed out that the production of televisions in Pakistan quadrupled in four years after inclusion of the item in the negative list for Afghan transit trade in 1996.
Pakistan had signed an agreement with Afghanistan in 1965 to facilitate foreign trade of its land-locked neighbour. The agreement has been massively abused by the unscrupulous
elements to import products way above their actual demand in Afghanistan meant only to push back the products into Pakistan.
The agreement resulted in massive smuggling of black tea, tyres, electronic goods, kitchen items, home appliances and other such goods into Pakistan. Every body knows that Afghans prefer green tea, but black tea in huge quantity was imported only to make money by misusing the facility.
In short, the ATT resulted in a quasi-legal smuggling in many ways. The majority of the imported products booked for Afghanistan just went through the motions never to reach Afghanistan after being rerouted in the border areas of the now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A big quantity also finds its way back into the country flooding the markets in the major urban
centres of the country with the goods imported under the ATT.
With each passing year the abuse increased, pushing products into the local markets which not only undermined the local manufacturing but also the legal imports. While the loss caused to the manufacturing sector forced many foreign investors to close down operations in the country, it also discouraged the legal imports of many items particularly tyres and
spices, due to in-competitive prices. This, in turn, deprived the government of substantial loss in terms of investment, corporate taxes and duties.
The agreement was abused to such an extent that an otherwise necessary service extended to the land-locked country turned it into the major cause for smuggling into Pakistan. It was all the more troubling as it was hard to keep track of the movement of imported goods bound for Afghanistan due to rampant corruption and political influence during all stages
of transit from Karachi, the nations only port-city.
The strong concerns of the manufacturing sector and the importers worst hit by the trade under the cover of ATT had forced the government time and again to make addition in the prohibitive list.
Pakistan to revisit terms for Afghan Transit Trade | Business | DAWN.COM
BATMAN
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Afghanistan, does not need transit for trade with China or Iran. Where as the whole Afghan transit delusion was transit aid for Pakistan's enemy state... bharat.
Pakistan is already suffering from the flooding triggered by joint efforts of bhart & Afghanistan.
We need to stop giving transit aid, worth $billions to anti-Pakistan states.
While the aid money is used only on anti Pakistan media war...
Bharti media always down play such news.... which shows how PPP had been supporting bharti industries and killing Pakistani industries by various tactics.
Pakistan is already suffering from the flooding triggered by joint efforts of bhart & Afghanistan.
We need to stop giving transit aid, worth $billions to anti-Pakistan states.
While the aid money is used only on anti Pakistan media war...
Bharti media always down play such news.... which shows how PPP had been supporting bharti industries and killing Pakistani industries by various tactics.
Lord Of Gondor
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patna_ke_presley
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How did India flood you. Anyway, you don't want to give Afghan any transit route, block their fuel supply and when they look for roads and Rail lines through Iran, even you feel unhappy about that.
WAQAS119
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Their was news some days back that Afghan trade is being used to supply NATO.
Also so much of smuggling is going on under the umbrella of Afghan Transit Trade, ultimately affecting people of Pakistan e.g., inflation in food items especially meet etc.
Also so much of smuggling is going on under the umbrella of Afghan Transit Trade, ultimately affecting people of Pakistan e.g., inflation in food items especially meet etc.
BATMAN
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Apparently, news say we are unhappy the way bhartis exploited Pakistani foreign office in securing transit aid.
No one mentioned any thing about Iran rail roads.
Pioneerfirst
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this revision is much needed.Afghan transit trade causes billions $ loss to Pakistan economy.
we should also force them to buy products from our markets rather than importing from abroad.
we should also force them to buy products from our markets rather than importing from abroad.
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