The government would make the Gwadar Port fully functional by next month (November) as necessary transhipment rules for bulk cargo are ready for final approval, sources revealed.
Officials of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, on the condition of anonymity, disclosed that the Gwadar Port will be made fully functional as soon as transhipment rules for bulk cargo from the port to foreign destinations are approved by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) as well as the Law Division.
“The government is leaving no stone unturned to make the port fully functional by November 2019,” the officials maintained.
They informed that a committee, comprising Balochistan chief customs collector, Quetta collector, officials of the Model Customs Collectorate (MCC) Gwadar and MCC Appraisement-West (Karachi), was constituted recently to prepare the draft of transhipment rules.
Similarly, the establishment of a new directorate at Gwadar has been initiated to facilitate the processing of transit cargo, destined for Afghanistan and China, in a more effective manner.
Transit of goods from Pakistan to Afghanistan has been regulated under the transit rules issued on 18th June 2001 (Sub Chapter VII of Chapter XXI and Chapter XXV of Custom Rules, 2001). The transit of goods from Gwadar to Afghanistan has been covered under various routes notified in the aforesaid rules.