NA Approves Bill to Create Pakistan Land Port Authority
On Thursday, the National Assembly passed the Pakistan Land Port Authority Bill 2025, allowing the movement of goods and passengers through border crossing points
With the bill’s approval, Pakistan Land Port Authority would make Pakistan the third South Asian country, alongside Bangladesh and India, to have a land port authority. Bangladesh created the land port authority in 2002, while India did so in March 2012.
The NA’s official X account posted, “The House discussed and passed the Pakistan Land Port Authority Bill, 2025.” On record, the bill was presented by Minister of State for Interior, Tallal Chaudhry, representing the Minister of Interior, Mohsin Raza Naqvi.
The bill will form the Pakistan Land Port Authority after Senate approval and presidential assent by Asif Ali Zardari. The authority would act as a statutory body that would manage inter-agency collaboration to streamline the movement of goods and people through border crossing points.
Zahid, the other MNA, required bill clause readings, and PPP’s Naveed Qamar noted that his party has had concerns on a few of the clauses.
“To improve the authority, the legislative committee of the party went through the bill and proposed a whole number of amendments in the bill,” Qamar, who is the chairman of the NA’s Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, remarked.
“By the way, we have deliberated enough and we had to come to a lot of compromises with the committee,” Qamar added.
In response to Zahid’s invitation, Qamar presented amendments to over a dozen of the legislative clauses, all of which, to Chaudry’s credit, he had no objection to. These amendments were proposed in bulk to the House, and a majority granted their approval, which led to the bill’s approval.
About the Pakistan Land Port Authority Bill
In 2012, the PPP government was the first to try and set up a land port authority under the ministry of commerce’s jurisdiction and then made a second attempt in 2021 with the PTI government.
In 2016, the PML-N government had also given consideration to the issue during its prior term, where multiple concepts of enhanced border posts for enclosed freight at Jamrud, Taftan and Sost were explored.
The bill was pushed in December of 2024, where Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar was presenting it on Naqvi’s behalf, unfortunately for him, deputy speaker Ghulam Mustafa Shah did not send it for consideration to the respective committee.
The proposed legislation will create a framework for declaring, regulating, securing, and supervising land ports with an aim to facilitate trade, ensure competition, control borders, and protect the country’s strategic interests.
The port authority will create a streamlined system to align with the border agency for trade facilitation as per international agreements for enhanced land port and regional port competitiveness.
The bill also seeks to establish a supervising authority by creating a 16-member governing council.
At present, there is no single focal point for the integrated and seamless functioning of diverse government agencies and service agencies located at international border crossings. This lack of a single control center sometimes results in delays in the movement of goods and people.
Land ports also need to install high-tech systems to monitor and control cross-border illegal immigration and the smuggling of goods.
