Islamabad:
On Wednesday, the permanent finance senatorial committee referred the question of 600 Iranian trucks blocked on the Pakistani-Iranian border to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, recommending that the case be examined by the federal cabinet.
Iranian diplomats have feared that Pakistan’s taxation of a banking guarantee requirement on Iranian trucks has caused daily losses of $ 2.2 million.
At a meeting chaired by Senator Saleem Mandviwalla in Parliament, Iranian diplomats informed the committee that Pakistan had restored a banking guarantee requirement for Iranian trucks despite its withdrawal from a 2008 agreement.
The diplomat stressed that if Pakistan imposed the condition, Iran has not imposed such a restriction on the Pakistani trucks.
In addition, the application of this requirement had an impact on bilateral trade, reducing the number of Iranian trucks entering Pakistan from 600 to 400 over six months, some drivers waiting for more than a month at the border.
The diplomat also stressed that free movement is a fundamental aspect of bilateral agreements, and the reopening of the Rimdan level crossing was essential to facilitate border trade.
Senator Saleem Mandviwalla said that Pakistan and Iran trade via a barter system. However, complicated customs regulations have put the transactions to stop.
Senator Farooq Naek firmly criticized the situation, calling it a revelation and a shame, wondering why foreign diplomats had to remind Pakistan how to manage his own commercial affairs.
Expressing the frustration of the country’s governance, he noticed that no one seemed to work in the national interest.
Likewise, Senator Shibli Faraz accused the bureaucracy of creating obstacles instead of facilitating trade and criticized the Federal Board of Return (FBR) for having failed to help traders despite the back of Iranian trucks.
Senator Anusha Rahman criticized customs officials for creating unnecessary obstacles, arguing that they had transformed customs into a personal business by demanding documents beyond their authority and forcing merchants to avoidable bureaucratic loops.
In response, customs officials denied that the bank’s guarantee affected the border trade, adding that Iranian trucks obtained authorization without these conditions.
They said that the goods authorized in Taftan did not need a bank guarantee and accused Iranian traders of having tried to transport goods in Taftan to Quetta, which was contrary to the regulations.
The officials said that the bank’s guarantee requirement applied to bilateral trade, not to barter trade, and that third -party goods could not enter Pakistan through the barter system.
Subsequently, the panel decided to degenerate the case to the Prime Minister, urging the federal office to intervene and resolve the crisis.
