Iran and Afghanistan are trying to solve transit problems. Will it work? Esmatullah Mayar investigates.
On Feb 13, the fourth Afghanistan-Iran Transport meeting was held in Kabul.
On Feb 13, the fourth Afghanistan-Iran Transport meeting was held in Kabul. The two sides agreed on 17 points of dispute that have caused delays for transporters in both countries.
Officials in the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce & Industries hope the agreements will be implemented. There have been three transport agreements between Iran and Afghanistan, but Afghan traders have faced delays and blockades.
Dr Afandizada, Iran’s Deputy Minister of Urban Planning and Roads, expressed hope Afghan exporters will not face problems at border crossings and the country’s ports. “I hope the implementation of the agreement will widen transit relations between our two countries,” he said.
He explained that many disagreements in the earlier agreement were resolved. “Solutions were found,” Deputy Minister Afandizada said.
Last year in May, Iran opened Chabahar Port to Afghan traders. The port in southeast Iran is only direct access to the sea. Officials had hoped it would help Afghanistan’s trade-related transit problems, and boost commercial relations. It provided Afghan traders with an alternative to trade routes through Pakistan, which have been plagued with uncertainty in recent years with strains in bilateral relations.
Iran has welcomed Afghanistan’s membership in the TIR Convention (the UN Convention on International Transport of Goods Under Cover of TIR Carnets), which establishes an international customs transit system aimed at seamless movement of goods. It does away with time-consuming border checks and, at the same time, provides customs authorities with the required security and guarantees. The TIR system covers both road and other modes of transport including maritime.
Atiqullah Nusrat, policy making deputy in the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce & Industries, said the transit agreements would help trade only if they are implemented in full. Previous agreements with Iran have not been put into practice, he said.
“The experiences that we have show that there were problems in implementation,” he told Killid in an interview. “That Iran blames Afghanistan or Afghanistan blames Iran for not implementation are facts. But the problems were in implementation,” he reiterated.
Keeping an eye
A decision to set up a joint committee to monitor the implementation of the transit agreements was taken at the two-day transport meeting in the Afghan capital. The committee is scheduled to meet every two months.
Economists believe Afghan trade would also get a boost if transport was “standardised”. At present goods are transported in all kinds of trucks. Under the TIR Convention goods have to be moved in sealed containers.
Saifudin Saihoon, a lecturer in the economics faculty at Kabul University, believes Afghanistan “itself is a problem”.
“The problems from Afghanistan side have created difficulties for Afghan traders in other countries,” he said. “We should confess that Afghanistan itself is a problem. Iran has (always) said that if you want to trade then make your transport standard.”
According to Hameedullah Farooqi, economic analyst and lecturer in the economic faculty, Kabul University, Iran and Pakistan have unnecessarily politicised trade and transit agreements with Afghanistan instead of strengthening regional cooperation. “Pakistan and Iran shamelessly want to prevent (export of) Afghan products,” he said.
Farooqi adds the thriving black market in Afghan goods in Iran indicate there is abundant demand. Similarly, Pakistan has frequently stopped containers of Afghan traders. The most recent stand off was in Karachi port in January this year, which affected 3,200 Afghan containers.
In December 2011, 2,500 Afghan containers were stopped inside Iran, causing millions of dollars of losses to Afghan traders, and the prices of essentials like foodstuff going through the roof.
