This is first time that a security surcharge has been levied on shipments to a country in the Gulf. The industry sources believe that the surcharge is primarily due to war in Iraq, which neighbours Iran.
The surcharge would adversely affect mass quantities of imports meant for Afghanistan as Afghan importers are presently using Bandar Abbas as transit port after their goods stuck up at the Karachi Port due to the Sindh Government infrastructure levy. The levy has been removed but the goods have not moved fast due to logistic problems.
Shipping lines had imposed a war risk surcharge on all shipments to and from Pakistan after the US invaded Kabul after nine eleven to oust the Taleban regime. The levy is almost non-existent now with the stability slowly returning to the war torn Afghanistan.