Pakistan, China agree Green Channel at Sost-Khunjerab for farm trade

Pakistan and China's customs administrations signed an agreement to set up a "Green Channel" at the Sost-Khunjerab border crossing for agricultural and allied products, at an online ceremony held at Federal Board of Revenue headquarters in Islamabad, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

The Pakistani delegation was headed by Syed Shakeel Shah, Member (Customs Operations) at the FBR, according to APP. The report did not name the Chinese officials who took part, and did not say who signed for either side.

APP described the arrangement as "an important step towards facilitating bilateral trade between the two countries". The report gave no date for the channel to begin operating and set out no clearance procedures, documentation requirements or list of covered products.

Sost, in the Gojal valley of Hunza district in Gilgit-Baltistan, is the last Pakistani town on the Karakoram Highway before the Khunjerab Pass, the only overland crossing between Pakistan and China. Almost all road-borne trade between the two countries passes through it, and traffic falls sharply in winter when snow closes the pass.

In customs practice, a "green channel" usually means a fast lane for consignments treated as low-risk, with paperwork and inspection kept to a minimum. APP's report did not say whether clearance under this arrangement will be automated, whether the two sides have agreed to recognise each other's inspections, or how the channel differs from the procedures already in use at the crossing.

Those questions matter for exporters of perishable produce, for whom delay at the border raises costs. Traders in Gilgit-Baltistan have for years argued that slow handling at Sost limits how much of the trade the region can capture, but no official assessment of the current clearance times was released with the agreement.

For Gilgit-Baltistan, the crossing is the main physical and commercial link with China's Xinjiang region, and administrative changes there are watched closely by transporters, clearing agents and the fruit and dry-fruit dealers who use the route.

This newspaper could not independently confirm when the channel starts, which products will qualify, or what the two customs administrations agreed on verification and inspection. APP's report on the ceremony was incomplete, and no text of the agreement or detailed statement from the FBR was available.