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ACCI Concerned About Lack Of Cargo Scanners At Airports

Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) officials said on Monday that the lack of cargo scanning machines at Hamid Karzai International Airport and at Kandahar Airport was slowing down the clearance process in terms of exporting goods to India.

This comes after a new air cargo corridor was recently launched between Afghanistan and India.

ACCI officials meanwhile said customs officials were having to physically unpack and check all cargo before it was loaded on to planes.

One of the criteria for Afghanistan products to be exported was that international packaging standards are met.

According to ACCI officials, the goods being air freighted are packaged accordingly by traders but are then having to be unpacked for clearance purposes due to the absence of scanners.

“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,” said Khan Jan Alokozay, ACCI deputy head.

This comes after President Ashraf Ghani said at the launch of the new air cargo corridor that airport officials need to resolve the scanner shortage within a week. However, nothing has been done as yet to install the required machinery.

Meanwhile, officials from the finance ministry said they are busy working on the issue to install 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.

Since the inauguration of the air corridor, 62 tons of goods have been flown out of Kabul and a further 40 tons from Kandahar to India.

The ACCI officials meanwhile said they have decided to increase the amount of fruit being exported to India but stated that government needs to install the necessary equipment as soon as possible.  

ACCI Concerned About Lack Of Cargo Scanners At Airports

ACCI officials have said the lack of cargo scanning machines at Kabul and Kandahar airports is a problem for traders exporting goods to India

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Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) officials said on Monday that the lack of cargo scanning machines at Hamid Karzai International Airport and at Kandahar Airport was slowing down the clearance process in terms of exporting goods to India.

This comes after a new air cargo corridor was recently launched between Afghanistan and India.

ACCI officials meanwhile said customs officials were having to physically unpack and check all cargo before it was loaded on to planes.

One of the criteria for Afghanistan products to be exported was that international packaging standards are met.

According to ACCI officials, the goods being air freighted are packaged accordingly by traders but are then having to be unpacked for clearance purposes due to the absence of scanners.

“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,” said Khan Jan Alokozay, ACCI deputy head.

This comes after President Ashraf Ghani said at the launch of the new air cargo corridor that airport officials need to resolve the scanner shortage within a week. However, nothing has been done as yet to install the required machinery.

Meanwhile, officials from the finance ministry said they are busy working on the issue to install 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.

Since the inauguration of the air corridor, 62 tons of goods have been flown out of Kabul and a further 40 tons from Kandahar to India.

The ACCI officials meanwhile said they have decided to increase the amount of fruit being exported to India but stated that government needs to install the necessary equipment as soon as possible.  

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