Pak, Afghan Customs ink Mutual Assistance Agreement

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Customs, Federal Board of Revenue and Afghan Customs Department Tuesday signed Important Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement. Syed Muhammad Tariq Huda, Member (Customs-Operation) FBR; and Mr. Khalilullah Saleh Zad, Director General Afghan Customs Department, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective Customs Department. Nisar Ahmad Ghoriyani, Minister of Commerce and Industry of Afghanistan, and Muhammad Javed Ghani, Chairman FBR, were also present.

It is important to note that this Customs Cooperation Agreement has been signed in light of directions of Prime Minister Imran Khan for establishment of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

To materialize the vision/direction of the prime minister, the customs officers of both countries had intensive consultations and meetings on regular basis.

On signing of the Agreement, Syed Muhammad Tariq Huda said the agreement had seen light of the day after a lot of hard work and consultations between the customs officers of both the countries.

Highlighting its strategic and operational benefits, he said the agreement would ensure reduced clearance times and optimum trade facilitation for import, export and transit cargo. Further, effective control over smuggling through enhanced cooperation would be possible.

The agreement would also ensure reduced risk of evasion of duties and taxes. Assured assistance by both customs administrations would be achieved.

The agreement would ensure promotion of exports, including transit trade, not only between both the countries, but also in the region.

Improvement of clearances and service delivery at the Border Crossing Points (BCPs) will also be another benefit of the agreement.

After signatures on the agreement, Nisar Ahmad Ghoriyani congratulated both the governments and Pakistan Customs and Afghan Customs Department for achievement of this milestone. He emphasized that the agreement would be highly beneficial for bilateral trade.

Javed Ghani highlighted the brotherly and cordial relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan and declared it an asset to the people of both countries.

He said this bond was further reinforced through greater collaboration and exchange of information/data in the form of agreement, which was signed between the two countries.