USAID/TAFA
APTTCA delegation leaders.
From February 11 through 12, the Afghanistan Pakistan Transit Trade Coordinating Authority (APTTCA) held its first meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan. The meeting focused on the implementation of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA), and the resolution of a number of trade and transit barriers imposed by both countries in recent months.
Both parties confirmed the establishment of APTTCA and agreed upon the primary elements of its structure and composition on the basis of the proposal prepared by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA). Pakistan identified the development of APTTCA business rules as the next priority, and requested Afghanistan to take the lead in this process. A draft has been prepared by GIRoA and will be finalized and submitted to Pakistan within one month. The Pakistan Ministry of Commerce requested that an expert, currently working on these rules at the Afghan Ministry of Commerce, visit Islamabad as soon as possible to understand their internal government processes so that these may be reflected in the business rules. Key APTTA implementation activities were discussed, including Customs-to-Customs information sharing, tracking devices, biometrics, bank guarantees for trucks, and customs security/financial guarantees for transit goods. The issues and discussions related to Customs-to-Customs information and sealed trucks produced no areas of disagreement. Concerning biometrics, both countries agreed that, until this system is in place, the Pakistan Investigation Agency (PIA)’s immigration authorities will issue multiple transit permits, as per the existing system, to the drivers of the vehicles and to persons engaged in transit trade. These permits will be valid for a period of six months. Afghanistan will reciprocate. Despite these areas of agreement, the parties failed to agree on appropriate instruments for implementing APTTA’s provisions concerning bank guarantees for trucks and customs security/financial guarantees for cargo. As a result, both parties agreed to extend the date of implementation of APTTA by four months (from the original date of February 12) or earlier if the parties agree on resolutions of the aforementioned issues.
USAID/Afghanistan Program Highlights: 2/1/2011-2/15/2011