The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has officially suspended all Afghan transit trade from the ports of Karachi, along with a directive to implement new technology-driven protocols to alleviate severe terminal congestion at Port Qasim and Karachi Port, according to several orders issued by the FBR.
The directive was issued during a meeting on the security impact of recent unrest at the Pak-Afghan border, chaired by the Director General of Customs, Karachi.
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With immediate effect, all gate passes for Afghan transit shipments have been canceled and clearance of all such cargo has been suspended at both Karachi Port and Port Qasim.
According to Office Order 98 of 2025, the suspension was prompted by the recent closure of the Pak-Afghan border, which has caused a massive build-up of cargo at Karachi’s terminals and border customs posts.
Transport of Afghan transit containers will remain suspended until trade activities at border customs posts to Afghanistan resume.
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Junaid Makda, Chairman of Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce stated that 291 containers of Afghan transit cargo are stuck in Karachi Port and Port Qasim.
Further, 500 containers are stranded at Chaman border, 400 at Torkham border, 100 at Ghulam Khan and 100 at Kharlachi. In addition, several hundred containers are waiting for ships to be unloaded.
Makda reported that traders on both sides are now selling food at half price. He said that the suspension of the Afghan transit trade is causing a daily loss of one billion rupees. During the Afghan transit trade, there is usually a two-way movement of a thousand containers daily. “All warehouses established in Torkham are already full”, Makda added.
The goods in the Afghan transit pipeline include electronics, electrical goods, machinery, home appliances, home textiles, confectionery and chocolate, along with other perishable items. Traders on both sides have already suffered losses of billions of rupees over the past four days.
The Director of Transit Quetta and the Director of Transit Peshawar stated that both customs stations working under their jurisdictions have reached optimum capacity and cannot accommodate more containers.
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In a parallel move outlined in Office Order 97 of 2025, authorities have imposed strict new technology requirements to tackle the congestion that is crippling port operations. The decision was made after terminal operators complained about a lack of coordination with tracking companies, which led to vehicles being parked indefinitely without confirmed orders or paid tracking devices.
The new procedure will not allow any bonded vehicle to enter a port unless a Prime-over Device (PMD) is installed by a licensed tracking company. The tracking company is required to confirm the payment of travel charges and the availability of the Container Surveillance Device (CSD) to the terminal operator before gate-in is allowed. This measure is designed to create a seamless, electronically verified process to prevent delays and reduce truck congestion inside port terminals.
The directives represent a significant intervention by the authorities to deal with a growing logistical and security crisis that is bringing Afghanistan’s transit trade to a standstill as they try to resolve the congestion that has built up at the country’s primary economic gateways.
