KHYBER: The business communities suspended export and transit movement to Afghanistan on Monday against the implementation of Temporary Admission Document (TAD) at Torkham border.
It is to be mentioned here that the Pak-Afghan government has imposed a TAD policy at the sharing borders aimed to regularize cargo carrying vehicles at the crossings.
The transporters, clearing agents and exporters sit-in protest camp in the export terminal that suspended export and transit movement to Afghanistan however import from across the border was in progress.
They set tyres on fire and chanted slogans in protest against the placing of TAD at the border.
They regretted that the newly imposed TAD policy multiplied their miseries.
President Clearing Agents Association, Torkham Aimal Khan Shinwari said that till availing of TAD, the export and import loaded vehicles should be allowed to cross-in and out the border as per previous system.
He added that initiatives should be adopted to facilitate the transport community at the border.
Implementation of the TAD system in haste will suffer the Pak-Afghan bilateral trade that has already reduced to millions from billions dollars annually, Shinwari opined.
Muhammad Yousaf Afridi,a truck, trailer union chief, said that the TAD policy was formulated without taking the transporters onboard.
Whatever promises were made with them regarding imposing TAD were not honored by the government, he remarked.
He went on that instead of a complicated and costly procedure (TAD) a simple system should be adopted at the border to facilitate the transporters.
When a custom official in Torkham was asked for his version on the matter he said that on the direction of the Federal Government, TAD policy had been obligatory since 01, August, 2024 on the border to regularize the vehicles movement at the crossing.
He maintained that although Pak-Afghan governments had signed the policy in May, 2024 and they repeatedly asked the transporters to get the TAD but they turned dead ears towards it, therefore both the government decided to make it effective in the month August, 2024.
On the other hand thousands of export and import loaded trucks stuck at the both sides of the border due to lack of TAD.
