The Taliban’s Finance Ministry said it will stop processing customs duties on medicines imported from Pakistan after the next three months, following an order from the group's deputy prime minister.
The announcement came a day after Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the deputy prime minister for economic affairs told medicine importers to settle all commercial dealings with Pakistan within that period and to use alternative routes for imports.
In a statement issued Thursday, the ministry said the decision was intended to prevent the import of low-quality medicines and that, after the three-month deadline, “medicines imported from Pakistan will not be processed for customs duties.”
The ministry said it planned to provide additional facilities for importing higher-quality medicines through alternative routes.
Baradar told Afghan traders and industrialists on Wednesday that they must settle their accounts with Pakistan within three months. He added that, because of what he described as the poor quality of Pakistani imports, exports and imports “should be carried out through alternative routes.”
With rising tensions along the border, Pakistan has closed all crossings with Afghanistan. Baradar told Afghan traders that Pakistan had previously closed trade routes, particularly during the fruit season, and said that if Pakistan wished to reopen the crossings now, it would need to provide guarantees ensuring the routes would not be shut again. He emphasised that Afghanistan’s exports and imports “must be conducted through alternative routes.”
Economic analysts say Afghanistan is able to conduct trade independently through other corridors in line with international law.
Anwar ul-Haq Ahadi, a former Afghan finance minister, told Afghanistan International that Afghanistan could use the Iran route and the Lapis Lazuli Corridor as long-term alternatives for exports and imports.
Another former finance minister, Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal, said transit for a landlocked country was “neither a gift nor a privilege,” but a legal right under international law and bilateral agreements. He said no country could revoke another’s transit access because of political tensions or disputes.
