Currently, 137 products are allowed for export to Pakistan via the Attari land border while just four items are being exported.
Speaking to Supportbiz, President of the Indo Foreign Chamber of Commerce BK Bajaj said that while the volume of cross-border trade had doubled with more than 300 trucks now crossing the border every day, traders have not benefited in any way.
He claims that the new taxes have made the Attari ICP the costliest port of trade in the country. Since the past week, traders have been unsuccessfully protesting against the additional taxes.
Giving details of their demands, he demanded that the Central Warehouse Corporation (CWC) waive off all the taxes and allow traders to keep their products free of charge for at least 72 hours while in transit.
“Traders will find alternative routes such as Mumbai-Karachi if these taxes are not waived off” said Bajaj.
Amritsar-based exporter Mukesh Sindhwani said that while illegal barter trade in Jammu and Kashmir has a negative effect on trade at the Attari land border, the additional expense incurred at the Attari ICP is making the status quo unsustainable.
Sindhwani said that while the Central government had permitted traders in Jammu and Kashmir to trade only 21 items under the barter system, they have been trading other items from different parts of the country.
He said that the ICP did not have critical equipment like Full Body Truck Scanners (FBTS) which help scan cargo without unloading and unpacking them. These scanners also help in preventing movement of contraband including drugs, arms and ammunition from Pakistan.
Manager, CWC’s ICP at Attari, Rameshwar said that they do not have extra space to store commodities in the warehouse but are currently allowing traders to keep in-transit gypsum free of cost for 72 hours.
He added that the ICP has benefited traders in a big way as earlier there was no provision for weighing in-transit goods.
List of taxes imposed on trade at the ICP:
Entry tax - INR200
Exit tax - INR200
Labour tax - 25 percent on INR2,000 already given to labour