Pakistan - New developments over Afghan Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement
Shares
The Ministry of Commerce briefed the Committee on the history of Afghan Pakistan Trade and revision of the Afghan Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA) 2010.
The Committee discussed in detail the challenges & issues in transit trade with Afghanistan, lessons learnt from past agreements, proposals of both the countries and way forward.
The Committee was informed that Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) is obligatory transport of cargo from/to Pakistan ports to Afghanistan under Article V of GATT 1947, Convention on Transit Trade of land-locked States 1965, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982.
The Agreement was concluded keeping in view the best international practices and advances made in the fields of information technology, logistics and customs procedures.
The Committee was informed that as opposed to the previous agreement, Afghan Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement is based on complete reciprocity, access to Pakistani exports to the CARs region through Afghanistan and formal arrangement in form of the Afghanistan Pakistan Transit Trade Coordination Authority (APTTCA) to ensure effective implementation.
The Ministry informed the Committee that despite repeated requests Afghan side has not been forthcoming in holding of APTTCA meeting and the last meeting was held in February 2016. They further added that the Afghan side has shared proposals for the revision of APTTA in June, 2020.
