After five days: Chaman border reopens for transit trade

After five days, the Afghan authorities reopened the Chaman border crossing for Pakistani containers destined for Central Asian countries on Wednesday.

Around 35 to 40 containers loaded with fruit and vegetables made their way across, according to sources in Chaman. However, most of the containers which had been refused entry into Afghanistan earlier had returned to Karachi, they added.

The containers were allowed to enter Afghanistan following talks between a delegation of transporters and Afghan officials, Chaman Customs Superintendent Iqbal Tareen told The Express Tribune.

In an official statement, the Pak-Afghan Chamber of Commerce, however, claimed their efforts had led to the reopening of the border crossing.


“Around 40 Pakistani containers carrying fruit and vegetables are being unloaded in Afghanistan,” Tareen said, adding that the freight will be reloaded into Afghan containers before reaching its final destination in Central Asia.

According to sources, the freight would remain with Afghan customs until its tax has been cleared. They said the fate of the containers and their cargo would likely clear up today (Thursday).

Meanwhile, trader Mohammad Dawood thanked the Afghan officials for reopening the border crossing for transit trade. He maintained the traders had been thrust into a severe financial crisis due to the five-day closure.

Last week, the Afghan authorities restricted around 200 containers carrying vegetables, fruit and other edibles to Central Asian countries under a transit trade agreement from entering the country.

The move was intended in response to delays in the clearance of around 3500 Afghan containers at Karachi Port. The containers have been stuck there for close to three months due to bureaucratic hurdles and despite orders by Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf for their release.

Kabul had earlier threatened to stop all transit trade from Pakistan until the containers at Karachi were cleared after repeated diplomatic efforts to resolve the issue failed. Meanwhile, Afghan importers had also threatened to seek UN and US intervention to secure the containers’ release from the Karachi Port authorities.