A number of fresh fruit and vegetable traders, in a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs, have reported facing challenges in trade through the Torkham crossing.

According to the Presidential Palace, in the meeting, Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, the Political Deputy of the Prime Minister, pledged that he would address the traders' challenges at the Torkham crossing.

It has been more than two months since Pakistan increased tariffs on Afghanistan's fresh fruit and vegetables, and during this period, exports to Pakistan have significantly decreased.

Although Islamabad is considered one of Afghanistan's major trading partners, and the largest share of Afghanistan's exports goes to Pakistan, occasional challenges at the border crossings and increased tariffs have negatively impacted exports.

Mohammad Aslam, a trader, said: "The customs duty is very high, we can't make it there, we incur losses; it's not profitable here, and if we don't sell at a lower price, the goods will spoil."

Another trader, Nematullah Rahmati, said: "The governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan should sit down and talk about this issue because if the routes remain blocked like this, our goods will spoil."

The Afghanistan-Pakistan Joint Chamber of Commerce said that due to the tariff increase by Pakistan, exports to that country have significantly decreased.

Khan Jan Alokozay, a member of the board of directors of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment, said: "Tariffs on one of our goods have increased by several hundred percent, and this doesn’t benefit our traders and farmers. Almost 75 to 80 percent of our trade with Pakistan has decreased."

Based on information from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, around two billion dollars of trade is conducted annually with Pakistan, of which nearly one billion dollars are exports.