“The General Federal Board of Customs and Kurdistan Region’s Customs [Directorate] will start implementing the decision [No. 13 of the Year 2019] on Sunday, February 17,” said Iraq’s General Board of Customs in a statement on Friday.
This is an “important step” in organization of trade, imports and exports, the board added.
The decision stipulates the unification of customs fees at crossings between Kurdistan Region provinces and others in Iraq, and at Sulaimani and Erbil’s airports, and issuing customs clearance forms in Kurdish and Arabic.
All customs points, in the Kurdistan Region and the rest of Iraq, also have to “commit” to decisions issued by the Iraqi Council of Ministers “related to protection of national products and the agricultural calendar.”
Also authorities must heed international treaties signed by Iraq, including those for customs fee exemptions.
The decision also includes the lifting of the Fayda customs point between Duhok and Mosul, Shirawa-Northern Kirkuk customs point and Laylan-Eastern Kirkuk customs points.
“The decision is for supporting the private sector through achieving the principle of fairness in imposing fees and to encourage completion between companies on the bases of quality and services,” added the statement.
The customs points between Iraq and the Kurdistan Region led to Kurdish businessmen having their products taxed twice, or Kurdish factories having domestically-produced products taxed by Iraq.
The disagreements mainly focused on the issue of customs fees revenue, as to whether it enters into the Iraqi treasury or the Kurdistan Region’s. Baghdad argues it is entitled to the revenues due to it paying the salary of employees and crossing points being exclusive federal authorities.
The customs points should not be confused with manned security checkpoints which are prevalent throughout the Kurdistan Region and Iraq. Many of the checkpoints are politically geared especially in more remote areas.
