The federal government has recently introduced a ‘Business-to-Business (B2B) Barter Trade Mechanism’ for trade with Iran, Afghanistan, and Russia. This initiative aims to promote regional trade and has received approval from the federal Cabinet. The Ministry of Commerce has issued a notification allowing both state-owned enterprises and private-sector entities to engage in the import and export of goods under this mechanism.
To participate in the B2B barter trade, traders or their authorized agents are required to submit an online application for authorization of import and export through the designated online system to the regulatory collector, as stated in the notification.
Under the B2B Barter Trade arrangement, goods will be traded on the principle of “import followed by export,” ensuring that the value of the exported goods matches that of the imported goods.
The Ministry of Commerce has identified 26 goods that can be exported to Afghanistan, Iran, and Russia. These goods include milk, cream, eggs, cereal, meat and fish products, fruits and vegetables, rice, salt, pharmaceutical products, finished leather and leather apparel, footwear, steel, and sports goods.
For imports from Afghanistan, the government has specified products such as fruits and nuts, vegetables and pulses, spices, minerals and metals, coal and its products, raw rubber items, raw hides and skins, cotton, and iron and steel.
Importers from Iran are allowed to import fruits, nuts, vegetables, spices, minerals and metals, coal and related products, petroleum crude oil, LNG and LPG, chemical products, fertilizers, articles of plastics and rubber, raw hides and skins, raw wool, and articles of iron and steel.
From Russia, Pakistani traders will have the opportunity to import pulses, wheat, coal and related products, petroleum oils including crude, LNG and LPG, fertilizers, tanning and dying extracts, articles of plastic and rubber, minerals and metals, chemical products, articles of iron and steel, and items of textile industrial machinery.
