After a delay of 30 months, the first-ever shipment under the Convention on the International Transport of Goods for traffic-in-transit of goods across the border has left for Uzbekistan from Pakistan via the Torkham border customs station.
Pakistan Customs processed the first-ever TIR consignment from Karachi at Torkham destined for Tashkent via Afghanistan. The consignment consisted of herbal medicines and after completion of all Customs formalities at Torkham it crossed into Afghanistan.
Islamabad signed the Convention on International Transport of Goods Under Cover of TIR Carnets (TIR Convention) in August 2015, which is a multilateral treaty that entails no payment of Customs duties and taxes. Pakistan ratified the convention in January 2016.
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) notified rules for the implementation of TIR in October 2017 with a delay of 27 months since the ratification of the convention.
As many as 77 countries including Afghanistan have acceded to the TIR convention so far. As a result of this, the Afghan government will not check Pakistani trucks carrying goods to Central Asian countries. It will also ensure uninterrupted flows of trucks across the Pak-Afghan border.
