KABUL - On the basis of the decision of the Council of Minister, the Afghan Ministry of Finance (MoF) has decided to impose fines on NATO supply trucks that enter Afghanistan without a proper registration process.

This comes as at least 70,000 NATO supplying trucks have been identified to have entered Afghanistan without valid registration.

The government has taken this step in an attempt to boost its revenue that has declined by 30% this year as compared to the previous year.

“We have not slapped taxes on the foreign forces’ containers; they should fill (T1) form for entering Afghanistan. Foreigners are obliged to respect the laws of Afghanistan,” Gul Maqsood Sabet, Deputy Minister of Finance for Revenue and Customs.

The US Senators in reaction to this have said that Washington will impose a five dollar cut on the US aid to Afghanistan against each dollar of fine imposed by the MoF.

The NATO officials are given 21 days to settle the issue with the Afghan government. After the deadline the NATO has to pay USD 1000 as fine for each truck.

Meanwhile, a number of parliamentarians have expressed concerns that such steps would cause issues that could hurt the nation’s interest and affect the Afghan economy.

However, MoF believes that entrance of non-registered NATO trucks affects the earnings of the government, which in turn, adversely affects the economy of the country. (Wadsam)