Transit labeling will save Pakistan's tire industry

Pakistani tire makers have called on the government to withdraw the decision to end the "Transit to Afghanistan" product labeling at the ports of Karachi and Qasim. The decision to abandon the label will hurt local industry and undermine all anti-smuggling efforts.

According to a spokesman for the local tire company General Tire and Rubber Company of Pakistan (GTR), the abolition of the labeling will lead to an increase in smuggling and theft of goods in transit through the country.

He stated that labeling should be mandatory for goods going to Afghanistan. Without it, these goods will again flood the country's market, harming local producers, and create chaos in the market, resulting in billions of rupees in lost revenue for the government. Along with other measures, labeling was a good strategy that needs to be preserved, according to GTR.

The biggest problem for the country's tire industry is smuggling. The local tire industry, a GTR spokesman said, meets almost 15% of the country's needs, another 20% of the tire market is imports and 65% is smuggling.