Importers have complained that thousands of containers bound for Afghanistan are stuck at the port of Karachi because of slow scanning of passing goods.They demanded that the federal government take immediate action to solve the problem.

Some 7,000 containers carrying goods destined for Afghanistan are stuck in Karachi port, hurting bilateral trade, the head of the Office of the Sahad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, headed by President Mughsud, said at a meeting with Karachi's Customs commissioner, Raza Ahmad Khan, on Saturday.He said he first used the pandemic as a pretext to slow down the clearance of containers, then checked goods to identify importers and exporters.

Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, President of the Association of Border Customs Agents, also complained that delays in the clearance of containers and trucks at ports had a negative impact on transit trade.He says Karachi's high demurrage and storage fees have pushed the hard-hit business community into recession.Mr. Sarhadi called for the immediate withdrawal of these costs, saying that, in accordance with FTC instructions, the Port of Karachi had carried out 100 per cent inspections of transboundary trade containers, while the additional truck inspection of the border at Tokham had slowed Pakistan's mutual and transboundary trade with Afghanistan.

SCCI leaders requested 5 percent container inspection at Karachi port to speed up bilateral and transit trade.They also called for more scanners to be installed in ports and for tracking systems to be signed up with a number of companies.The SCCI leader said that customs clearance and inspection of transboundary trade containers and trucks should be accelerated at the port of Karachi and The border of Tokham.They called for the demolition of an "illegal" dock in the Mattani area near Bara's Tehsil.SCCI leaders also sought permission to move empty trucks and containers stranded in Afghanistan to the Tokham border so they could continue their journey to Karachi.