ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Kurdish produce traders are having problems selling locally grown fruit and vegetables to the rest of Iraq. Dlawar Fazl, a produce trader, has been working in Erbil's grocery market for the past ten years. He said the situation has worsened this year due to the instability of export permits.
Checkpoints between the Kurdistan Region and southern Iraq prohibit regular exports of Kurdish farm produce. Several domestic fruit and vegetables are in season but do not have markets to export to.
“They may let us [export our products] this week but not the next. We can only sell our products after they have sold their own,” said Fazl.
“They [Iraqi officials] care for their own farmers, rather than Erbil's farmers. They treat us like people from outside Iraq,” he added.
Back in May, Iraqi checkpoints began to halt the flow of Kurdish farmers' produce.
According to Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) authorities, they are in contact with Iraqi agriculture ministry officials to resolve the issue.
“We’ve tried contacting the Iraqi Agriculture Ministry to remove the barriers. They’ve asked for the list of the products that we want to export to the Iraqi provinces,” said Hussein Hamakarim, a KRG Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources spokesperson.
Produce from southern Iraqi provinces can currently be imported into the Region without restriction, while Kurdish traders say they must pay to pass through checkpoints.
“Depending on their mood, they charge between 500 to 1,000 dollars per vehicle,” said Rajab Aziz, Erbil’s grocery market head of council.
Erbil’s grocery market is one of the main fruit and vegetable markets in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. Over 3,000 tonnes of fruits and vegetables are traded daily, according to the market's council. Sixty percent of the produce is locally sourced.
Translation and video editing by Sarkawt Mohammed
