The Afghan Transit Trade has witnessed a significant decline of 84 percent, dropping to $191 million during the first two months of the current fiscal year from $1.223 billion in the same period last year. This decrease is primarily attributed to Pakistan’s anti-smuggling efforts and import restric-tions. In FY 2023-24, the Afghan Transit Trade recorded a significant decline of 59, dropping from $7.095 billion in 2022-23 to $2.887 billion, mainly due to the measures taken by Pakistan to check misuse of the facility.
The latest reports substantiate the widely-held belief that the Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) has become a bleeding wound of Pakistan’s economy. For decades, goods, which have no market in Af-ghanistan, are imported under the transit trade and then smuggled back into Pakistan, inflicting huge losses to the country’s economy.
Pakistan incurred losses because it was under pressure from Afghanistan and some other countries that wanted Islamabad to close its eyes to what is happening in the garb of the transit trade, which led to a sharp increase in smuggling and virtual closure of do-mestic industry. The misuse could have been avoided by improving custom stations’ infrastructure and installation of scanning machines for physical examination at exit points i.e.
Torkham and Cha-man but some lobbies did not allow this to happen and Afghanistan too has been obstructing all ef-forts aimed at formalizing bilateral trade. The decline in the transit trade is an indication that the agencies responsible for keeping a check on smuggling are working hard. Credit for this goes to the Pakistan Army for providing necessary assistance to the civil administration for the purpose.
The Af-ghan opposition is understandable but Pakistan must remain firm on establishing an effective border management system to prevent smuggling of goods and illegal movement of people.
