Pakistan retakes increase of tax on Afghanistan fruit

Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment (ACCI) says exports of fresh fruits to South Asian countries have been recently low due to the lack of flights through air corridors, and currently, Pakistan is considered as the only market for the country’s agricultural products.

There were also complaints from Afghan traders saying that the Pakistan side has increased taxes on Afghan fresh fruits entering the country.
Khanjan Alokozai, a member of the board of directors of the Chamber of Commerce and Investments, said that they mostly export fresh fruits to South Asian countries particularly India and Pakistan, adding that the main problem was that there were no air corridors for any exports.

Previously, 25,000 tons of fresh fruits had been exported to foreign countries through air corridors. For the time being, which we can use through the air corridors every year from twenty to twenty-five years.

However, the embassy of Afghanistan in Islamabad said that the issue had been discussed with the Pakistani officials. The government of Pakistan has agreed to decrease the taxes.

In a Tweet on Friday, Afghanistan embassy to Islamabad said that Pakistan had decreased the taxes which had been increased on the fruits imported from Afghanistan.

According to the embassy of Afghanistan, the officials of the Afghanistan embassy in Islamabad and Afghan consulate generals in Quetta and Peshawar had discussed the issue of the increased customs duties on the fruits of Afghanistan at the Chaman and Torkham border crossings.

A delegation headed by the trade attaché at the embassy, Mufti Abdul Hakim Hakimi met the officials of the trade ministry of Pakistan.

The officials of the ministry said that the increase in the customs duties on Afghan fruits was a general decision and that Afghanistan would be exempted from this decree.

The additional damage on imported goods of Afghan traders at Karachi port and the new policy for the issuance of visas to drivers at the Torkham and Chaman borders were also discussed in the meeting.
Based on information of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment, during the period of 2021, exports of Afghan products to Pakistan reached to more than $3 million, while the amount has increased as Afghanistan’s coal is exported to Pakistan.

Following the increase of customs tax by Pakistan on Afghanistan fresh fruits, the exporting fruit from the country to Pakistan has stopped.
The exports and imports between the two countries have always faced issues.