Pakistan has unveiled a new framework allowing transit of goods to Iran through its territory, opening designated trade corridors under the Transit of Goods through Territory of Pakistan Order, 2026.
In a notification, the Commerce Ministry said the order permits the movement of goods destined for Iran through Pakistan under regulated transit arrangements. The initiative, it said, would facilitate bilateral and regional trade.
The arrangement provides six designated transit routes for the movement of goods under an existing agreement between Pakistan and Iran: Gwadar–Gabd; Karachi/Port Qasim–Lyari–Ormara–Pasni–Gabd; Karachi/Port Qasim–Khuzdar–Dalbandin–Taftan; Gwadar–Turbat–Hoshab–Panjgur–Nag–Besima–Khuzdar–Quetta/Lakpass–Dalbandin–Nokundi–Taftan; Gwadar–Lyari–Khuzdar–Quetta/Lakpass–Dalbandin–Nokundi–Taftan; and Karachi/Port Qasim–Gwadar–Gabd.
The order applies to the transport of transit goods in transport units, consigned from the territory of a third country and destined to a place in the territory of Iran through the territory of Pakistan.
According to local media, the notification comes as more than 3,000 containers destined for Iran are stuck at the Karachi Port due to the ongoing U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
The order defines the transport of goods as “cross-stuffing,” i.e. the transfer of goods from one container to another container or by any other mode of transportation that shall be allowed in a mode and manner allowed under relevant Customs laws and regulations. It also defines Customs Security as an encashable financial guarantee, submitted by traders or through their authorized brokers on transit goods, for an amount equivalent to the import levies of Pakistan, as provided in relevant Customs laws, rules and regulations.
The order refers to a “shipper” as any natural or legal person by whom or in whose name a contract of carriage of goods has been concluded with a carrier, or any person by whom or in whose name the goods are actually delivered to the carrier in relation to the contract of carriage of goods. It further defines transit as the movement of goods in transit across the territory of Pakistan when the passage across such territory is only a portion of a complete journey, which begins and ends beyond the borders of Pakistan. Moreover, a transit transport corridor has been explained as a route for use by a carrier for the transit of goods.