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Lack of scanners at airports in Afghanistan holds up cargo exports to India

THE lack of cargo scanning equipment at Hamid Karzai International Airport and at Kandahar Airport is slowing down the clearance process for exports from Afghanistan to India.

Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) officials said customs officers have to physically unpack and check all cargo before it is loaded on to planes, following the opening of a new air cargo corridor between Afghanistan and India.

One of the criteria for exporting Afghanistan's products stipulates that international packaging standards are met. According to ACCI officials, the goods being air freighted are packaged accordingly by traders but then have to be unpacked for clearance purposes due to the absence of scanners, Tolo News of Afghanistan reported.

"India ahead of the import of goods from Afghanistan via the air corridor had made the necessary preparations at its airports; but in Afghanistan, airports still have no scanner machines and our goods get checked manually," ACCI deputy head, Khan Jan Alokozay, was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, officials from the Finance Ministry said they are busy working on installing the necessary scanners.

"Checking cargo at the airports is the responsibility of a few institutions; but we are trying to install the necessary machines at airport customs to provide the necessity facilities for cargo checks," Finance Ministry spokesman, Ajmal Hamid Abdulrahimzai, said.