Government agency seizes Pakistan-origin dry dates imports worth Rs 3 crore misdeclared from UAE

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“In an intelligence led operation, officers of DRI intercepted 13 containers carrying 364 MT (metric tonne) of dry dates, valued at approximately Rs 3 crore, imported at Kandla Port. Investigation revealed that the goods, though declared as originating from the UAE, were in fact of Pakistan origin. The enquiries established that the goods were first transported from Pakistan to Dubai and subsequently shifted to another set of containers before being exported to India,” the release said.

The importers allegedly suppressed material facts and mis-declared the country of origin in an attempt to evade the prohibition on import of Pakistan-origin goods, the release said. “Accordingly, the entire consignment has been seized under the relevant provisions of the Customs Act, 1962,” it said.

In the wake of the terror attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir on April 22, 2025, which had killed 26 people, India had announced termination of direct trade with Pakistan, marked by the closure of the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Attari on April 24 last year. However, imports of Pakistani goods via third countries were still possible. To plug this loophole and eliminate any possibility of Pakistani goods entering its territory, India had then imposed an immediate ban on “the direct or indirect import or transit of all goods originating in, or exported from, Pakistan” in May 2025.

India used to primarily export items such as soya bean, poultry feed, vegetables, red chillies, plastic granules and plastic yarn to Pakistan, while importing dry fruits, dates, gypsum, cement, glass, rock salt and herbs from Pakistan. Pakistani dates used to arrive at Indian ports through transhipment hubs — particularly via the UAE, which has a free trade agreement with India. Bilateral trade between India and the UAE was $101.24 billion in the last financial year.

Tensions between the two countries — particularly after the 2019 Pulwama attack that had resulted in revocation of Most Favoured Nation status of Pakistan by India — had reduced total trade from $2.41123 billion in 2018-19 to $647.20 million in 2022-23, as per data by Ministry of Commerce and Industry. However, trade rebounded to $1.19 billion in 2023-24, the highest during the past five years. During the last financial year, total trade has come down to barely $258.22 million compared with $558.24 million in 2024-25. As per the World Bank, India-Pakistan has a trade potential of $37 billion, the data showed. While India’s overall goods trade stands at $430 billion, the comparable number for Pakistan stands at roughly $100 billion.

As per the estimates by Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) from last year, $10 billion worth of Indian goods reach Pakistan via the transhipment hub routes.

Other cases of misdeclared Pakistan-origin goods

Last week, the officers of DRI uncovered an attempt to import around 14 metric tonnes of Pakistan-origin Guggul resin valued approximately at Rs 1.4 crore through misdeclaration of description and country of origin at Tuticorin port. “The consignment had been falsely declared as natural resin originating from Somalia and routed through Dubai. Investigation established that the consignment was Guggul resin and was of Pakistan origin and had been trans-shipped using forged documentation. Two persons involved in the conspiracy were also arrested,” the ministry said.

Guggul resin (Commiphora resin), a species endemic to the arid regions of India and Pakistan, is listed in CITES Appendix II and is categorised as critically endangered in the IUCN Red list. The CITES appendices are three separate lists of wild animals and plants protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, while the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species is a global information source on the extinction risk status of animal, fungus and plant species.