KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has temporarily halted Afghan Transit Trade operations from Karachi ports, citing capacity constraints at customs stations in Quetta and Peshawar.
The decision was taken during a key meeting held at the Directorate of Transit Trade Headquarters, Customs House Karachi, chaired by the Director General of Afghan Transit Trade. Directors of Afghan Transit Quetta and Peshawar attended the session via Zoom.
Following the meeting, the FBR issued Customs General Order No. 98/2025, stating that the movement of Afghan Transit Trade consignments has been suspended indefinitely due to severe congestion and lack of storage capacity at the Quetta and Peshawar customs stations, where no additional space is available to accommodate containers.
The order directed that all terminals unload Afghan Transit containers already placed on vehicles, cancel gate passes, and halt all transportation activities related to Afghan Transit Trade until further instructions are issued.
As a result of this directive, terminals at Karachi Port and Port Qasim have suspended the clearance of Afghan Transit consignments.
According to customs sources, long queues of Transit Procedure (TP) containers have formed at the South Asia Pakistan Terminals (SAPT), with hundreds of containers already loaded on trucks and many more stranded en route to Quetta and Peshawar, where drivers are waiting for the border to reopen.