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Viewing cable 06KABUL1946, AFGHAN/IRAN TRANSIT TRADE - A GROWING EMBRACE

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06KABUL1946 2006-05-01 10:17 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Kabul
VZCZCXRO1860
RR RUEHDBU RUEHIK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBUL #1946/01 1211017
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 011017Z MAY 06 ZFD CTG RUEHLE 3460 1230643
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9915
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 3569
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2480
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 5899
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA 1320
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KABUL 001946 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA/FO, SA/A, EB/BTA FOR MBGOODMAN, P STAFR 
(MANUEL) 
TREASURY FOR PARAMESWARAN 
NSC FOR AHARRIMAN, KAMEND 
COMMERCE FOR SUE HAMROCK 
USTR FOR GHICKS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ETRD PREL AF
SUBJECT: AFGHAN/IRAN TRANSIT TRADE - A GROWING EMBRACE 
 
REF: A.   Kabul 1186 
     B.   05 Karachi 1248 
     C.      New Delhi 2603 
 
KABUL 00001946  001.6 OF 004 
 
 
 
--------------- 
SUMMARY 
--------------- 
 
1.  (SBU)  Afghanistan is deepening its transit trade ties 
with Iran.  Afghan companies are increasingly favoring Iran 
to transit goods out of frustration with perceived shipping 
delays, surcharges and corruption in Pakistan.  The GoA 
recently signed a new transit trade agreement with Iran and 
both the Indian and Iranian governments are cooperating to 
upgrade Iran's transportation infrastructure near the Afghan 
border to facilitate trade and create a transit corridor 
alternative to Pakistan.  While GoA officials regularly 
express their anxieties about deepening commercial 
engagement with Iran, such concerns are tempered by 
Afghanistan's eagerness to expand its trade options and 
reduce its transit trade dependence on Pakistan.  End 
Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
------------------------ 
IRAN AND AFGHANISTAN SIGN NEW TRANSIT AGREEMENT 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
------------------------ 
 
2.  (SBU)  The GoA has negotiated three bilateral transit 
agreements with Iran covering the carriage of passengers and 
freight.  The original two bilateral transit agreements date 
to 1973, and a third transit agreement was signed on 
December 11, 2005.  The salient features of these transit 
agreements cover the re-export of transit goods to third 
countries, non-discrimination in customs duties, taxes on 
goods, and arbitration provisions.   The latest agreement 
details specific areas of transit cooperation between the 
two states and creates a joint government-to-government 
transit committee that will meet quarterly. 
 
3.  (SBU)  The new December 2005 agreement marks a deepening 
relationship between Afghanistan and Iran on transit issues. 
The agreement specifically calls for greater security for 
Iranian trucks transiting Afghan territory and states that 
any damage to or attacks on Iranian trucks, resulting in the 
loss of their cargo is the responsibility of the GoA; 
trucks from both countries will be allowed to transit the 
other and no fees will be assessed for road passes; Iranian 
goods that are imported into Afghanistan to complete Iranian 
financed reconstruction projects will be exempt from all 
Afghan taxes; the GoA will expand its consulate in the 
Iranian city of Zahedan, near the Afghan province of Nimroz, 
by adding a trade facilitation office to assist Afghan 
traders, and; at the request of Iran, a new transit trade 
route will be opened in western Afghanistan connecting the 
cities of Milak (Iran) and Zaranj (Afghanistan - Farah 
Province.)  Iran has raised security concerns over 
permitting Afghan trucks unfettered access to its territory 
and both governments are still negotiating on this issue. 
The next meeting, date still to be determined, will take 
place in several weeks in Teheran. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
----------------------------------------- 
AFGHAN FIRMS FAVORING IRAN OVER PAKISTAN FOR TRANSIT TRADE 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
----------------------------------------- 
 
 
KABUL 00001946  002.6 OF 004 
 
 
4.  (SBU) Most Afghan goods transiting Iran are unloaded 
through the port of Bandar Abbas.  Under the 1973 transit 
trade agreement with Iran, goods bound to or from 
Afghanistan are permitted to transit Iranian territory 
without incurring taxes or fees unless mutually agreed upon 
by both governments.  Econoff met with three representatives 
from freight forwarding companies based in Herat to discuss 
transit issues.  All three were satisfied with the 
infrastructure facilities and transit services provided in 
Iran.  Iran boasts modern port facilities, extensive road 
and rail networks that are in good repair and, at least as 
far as the Afghans are concerned, honest customs officials. 
The businessmen were specifically asked if they had 
encountered problems with poor infrastructure, inadequate 
storage and transport vehicles, unwarranted and/or excessive 
taxes and fees, official corruption or the theft of 
consignments.  The Afghans, all successful businessmen based 
in Herat, were uniform in their lack of grievances against 
Iran regarding transit issues.  (Note: Econoff has 
questioned Afghan officials at the Ministries of Foreign 
Affairs and Commerce regarding transit trade tensions with 
Iran and received similar positive responses.) 
 
5.  (SBU)   Businessmen in western Afghanistan have 
traditionally favored Iran as a transit route over Pakistan 
due to lower costs and shorter transport routes.  The Afghan 
freight forwarders said the average cost of transporting a 
container of goods from Bandar Abbas to Herat was USD 1300 
compared to USD 2000 in transit costs incurred between 
Karachi and Kabul.  Historically, the additional cost, delay 
and security risks in bringing goods across the length of 
Afghanistan have prevented traders and businesses in Kabul 
and eastern Afghanistan from utilizing Iranian transit 
routes.  However, the significant donor-funded work to 
improve the (still incomplete) Kabul-Kandahar-Herat portion 
of the Ring Road and an improved (though still challenging) 
internal security environment are giving eastern Afghan 
businesses an Iranian transit alternative to Pakistan. 
(Note: GoA officials have informed Econoff that they also 
are seeing an increase in Afghan traders favoring Iran over 
Pakistan.  Officials at both the Commerce and Foreign 
Affairs Ministries did not have specific figures, but said 
the balance between goods transiting through Iran versus 
Pakistan was shifting from approximately 20 percent and 80 
percent respectively to roughly equal shares of 
Afghanistan's total transit trade.) 
 
6.  (SBU)  Neither the GoA nor the IMF report statistics 
detailing either Afghan transit trade through Iran or 
bilateral trade between the two countries.   Trade data 
limitations are based in part on faulty data generated at 
the border.  Econoff spoke recently to a USAID-funded 
Bearing Point customs consultant who has been based in Herat 
for two years.    The consultant said traders were required 
to provide both the country of origin and country of export 
information for all imported goods on Afghan customs 
declaration forms.  However, due to carelessness and 
illiteracy, most traders listed Iran, the country of export, 
for both categories.   He said GoA customs officials at the 
border are aware of the problem, but take no action to 
correct it.  Herat is the gateway for most goods transiting 
through Iran and generates about half of the GoA's customs 
revenues. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
--------------- 
AFGHAN BUSINESSES FRUSTRATED WITH PAKISTAN 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
--------------- 
 
 
KABUL 00001946  003.6 OF 004 
 
 
7.  (SBU)  All three of the Herat shippers said that they 
were seeing a steady increase in transit trade through Iran 
for goods being shipped to Kabul and eastern Afghanistan 
instead of the shorter Pakistani route.   Econoff also spoke 
to a group of Kabul traders who also said Iran was capturing 
a larger share of Afghanistan's transit trade.  Both groups 
of businessmen offered a familiar litany of complaints about 
transiting goods through Karachi, including high demurrage 
fees due to port processing delays, insufficient rail 
service and storage facilities, theft and corruption. (Ref 
A.)  Although bringing a container through Karachi is 
cheaper for a Kabul-based business than transiting goods 
through Iran, the Pakistani route carries higher potential 
risks.  High demurrage fees in port can amount to more than 
the value of the goods being transported and organized theft 
can rob a trader of his entire consignment.  (Note: Econoff 
spoke to a shipping agent in Kabul who said containers 
carrying goods to Afghanistan were sometimes pilfered en 
route in Pakistan.  He said the thieves were careful not to 
damage the containers' seals and instead cut through and 
removed the sides of containers, took what they wanted, and 
then meticulously welded the container back together.) 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
--------------------------- 
INDIA BUILDING TRANSIT LINK ALTERNATIVE TO PAKISTAN 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
--------------------------- 
 
8.  (SBU)  The GoA and Iran have also expanded their transit 
trade links with India.  In 2003 the three governments 
signed a trilateral transit agreement to establish a second 
transit corridor that will offer a viable and cost effective 
alternative to Pakistan.  The  trilateral agreement is 
centered on developing trade through the new Iranian port of 
Chabahar:  India and Iran have agreed to build a rail link 
from the port to Iran's central rail network; Iran is 
upgrading the Chabahar-Milak road to international standards 
and will build a bridge over the Helmand River at Milak on 
the Afghan border; India is building a 215 km road linking 
the Afghan border town of Zaranj with the Iranian city of 
Delaram, and; Iran is extending a rail link to the Afghan 
border at Islam Qalah.  Pakistani shipping agents in Karachi 
are reportedly alarmed that up to 70 percent of their Afghan 
transit trade could eventually be siphoned off to Chabahar. 
(Ref B.)  Officials at the Indian Embassy confirmed to 
Econoff that the Indian-backed projects were progressing as 
planned, although the Zaranj-Delaram road construction has 
faced setbacks due to security concerns -  an Indian 
engineer was killed in Iran last year.  Black-topping has 
already begun on a portion of the road and the final road 
section is expected to be completed in approximately two 
years.  (Ref C.) 
 
9.  (SBU)  Iran has granted transit concessions to both 
Afghanistan and India at Chabahar.  Both nations are 
entitled to a 90 percent discount on port fees (except for 
oil tankers) and a 50 percent discount on warehousing and 
related transit services.  In addition to Chabahar, both 
countries have the right to use all Iranian ports and roads 
for transit purposes and their vehicles and vessels are 
permitted to pay for fuel at rates equivalent to Iranian 
vehicles and vessels. 
 
--------------- 
COMMENT 
--------------- 
 
10.  (SBU)  Despite the increased cooperation on transit 
trade issues, Afghan officials regularly express their 
 
KABUL 00001946  004.6 OF 004 
 
 
suspicions and anxieties about engaging with Iran. 
Enthusiasm for increased trade and commerce appears tempered 
by concern about expanding Iranian influence in Afghanistan. 
GoA officials also express concerns about Iran's "dumping" 
of goods whose production is subsidized by Iran's below-free 
market domestic energy prices.  Such concerns are moderated 
by the GoA's eagerness to expand Afghanistan's trade options 
and reduce its transit trade dependence on Pakistan.  The 
GoA is taking advantage of Iranian transit concessions and 
improved, modern transportation networks and facilities. 
For its part, Iran appears eager to draw its Afghan neighbor 
further into its economic orbit. 
 
NEUMANN