The Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) officials said Afghanistan has not benefited from the Transport and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) agreement in the past 13 years.

The ACCI officials said Afghan truck drivers are prevented from transporting goods to Transport International Route (TIR) member countries despite Afghanistan being a signatory to the agreement. 

“We have talked with ARU (Afghanistan Road Union) organization and agreed to send a number of drivers, who want to use the TIR system, to Tajikistan in order to get technical training,” ACCI spokesman Siyam Psarlai said.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transport said it is working on a plan to implement the TIR agreement.

“We have done our assessments. Some of the transport companies have the required equipment. We introduce them to chambers of commerce through which they will be introduced to TIR,” spokesman for the ministry, Hekmatullah Qoyanj said.

According to ACCI, the lack of programs in place to make better use of the TIR, the lack of information among drivers about the laws around TIR and the lack of an effective program within government for the better utilization of opportunities and other challenges are among the key issues that have had a negative effect on the issue for the Afghan business community.
What is TIR?

TIR is the world’s only universal transit system, allowing truck drivers to safely move goods across borders with minimal delay while saving much-needed time and money for customs authorities.

Afghanistan - a TIR member

Afghanistan became a member of the TIR Convention in 1975, but after decades of conflict, the country only reactivated TIR in 2013 and is now beginning to implement its procedures. Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani has made the country’s potential transit operations a national priority for government.

During a conference earlier this year, representatives from the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation and the Afghanistan Customs Department spoke on efforts to leverage the country’s transit potential to boost trade and government revenue.