PM approves targets to speed up trade, cargo clearance

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday approved targets for speeding up trade and cargo clearance, including achieving 30 per cent pre-arrival clearance and increasing the share of cargo processed through the green channel to 65 per cent by the end of the current financial year. Chairing the first meeting of the Trade Facilitation Board (TFB), the prime minister directed the authorities to eliminate unnecessary delays in trade processes, reduce business costs and take effective measures to promote exports. He said the government was committed to providing the business community with every possible facility and making trade and commercial activity easier. READ MORE: New scanning facilities to help improve cargo clearance He stressed that trade facilitation was essential to making Pakistan an effective part of regional and global supply chains. The meeting was briefed on targets under the Time Release Automated System for all ports. The number of Authorised Economic Operators (AEOs) is to be increased to more than 50 by the end of the financial year. Sharif directed the authorities to conduct a comprehensive audit of all non-tariff measures and remove unnecessary barriers to trade. He approved a working group to review these measures and directed it to submit, within one month, a roadmap for eliminating unnecessary regulations and facilitating trade. He also directed the authorities to take effective measures to bring direct shipping lines to Pakistani ports, saying direct shipping facilities would make the movement of products from Pakistani factories to global buyers easier and faster. The prime minister directed that all relevant agencies at high-volume ports provide services to the business community at a single location. He also called for promoting joint inspections and joint profiling by different government agencies. Sharif directed the preparation of a National Trade Performance Index to measure cargo dwell time, customs clearance, logistics, ship clearance time, post-clearance audits and pre-clearance, among other key indicators. Emphasising the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), he directed the authorities to take special measures to increase their share in trade. He called for the various stages of SMEs’ trading journeys to be mapped to identify the obstacles they face. The prime minister also called for the risk-management system in trade to be made more effective. Controls should extend from the pre-arrival stage to the post-release stage to speed up cargo clearance, he said, adding that only high-risk cargo should be subjected to detailed inspection. He directed officials to make greater use of artificial intelligence to improve risk management and speed up trade processes. The prime minister said the primary objective of the TFB was to remove obstacles in all trade-related procedures and stressed that trade facilitation was essential to making Pakistan an effective part of regional and global supply chains. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026

Read full story on Business Recorder