Pakistan and China sign Khunjerab green channel deal: priority clearance for farm produce at Sost

Pakistan and China signed an agreement on Thursday, 29 October, to run a green channel at the Sost-Khunjerab border for agricultural and allied products, Dawn reported. The deal was signed online between the two countries' customs administrations at the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in Islamabad.

Pakistan's side was led by Member Customs (Operations) Syed Shakeel Shah. China's was headed by Li Qinghua, deputy head of Urumqi Customs and director of Tashkurgan Customs.

What changes

• Priority processing for consignments on an agreed list of agricultural products, while risk-based customs checks stay in place.
• Faster handling of perishables, so fruit, vegetables and similar goods are not left waiting at the border.
• Shared information and risk alerts between the two customs services.

The Pakistani delegation also included the chief collector of customs Peshawar, the collector of customs Gilgit-Baltistan, and representatives of the Department of Plant Protection, NAFSA (the National Agri-Food Safety Authority), Pakistan Single Window, the Ministry of Commerce and the embassy in Beijing.

Why it matters for traders

Khunjerab is the highest paved international border crossing in the world, at about 15,500 feet, linking Gilgit-Baltistan with Xinjiang. Under the 1985 border protocol it is open for trade and travel from April to November, so the green channel matters most from next spring. Pakistani exports such as cherries, dried fruit and kinnow have long lost value to delays at the crossing, where a few days can spoil a perishable load.

The numbers are small but growing: Pakistan Customs collected a record Rs 15 billion on imports from China through Khunjerab last year, while exports to China and Central Asia through the crossing were worth Rs 2.8 billion, according to Dawn.

The deal follows the government's order this week for a five-year roadmap for kinnow exports, part of a wider push to sell more farm produce to China and the region. Exporters pricing in yuan or dollars can check today's rates in our currency converter and on the dollar rate page.

For travellers, last month's decision to give Chinese tourists visa on arrival at Khunjerab, starting with Hunza and Nagar, is a separate scheme run by the interior ministry.