Kurdistan
Erbil and Baghdad delegations meet to discuss the implementation of the ASYCUDA across the Kurdistan Region. File photo: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has formally petitioned the Iraqi federal government to convene an urgent session of the Ministerial Council for the Economy to finalize a customs and trade unification agreement that has remained stalled for more than a month, a senior commerce official in Erbil told Rudaw on Tuesday.
Erbil and Baghdad reached an agreement in early April to implement the United Nations-backed Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA) across the Kurdistan Region’s border crossings, aiming to unify customs procedures and modernize trade infrastructure between the two sides.
However, Gilan Haji Said, head of Erbil’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Rudaw that “so far, the Ministerial Council for Economy has not held the meeting designated to ratify this understanding.”
In mid-April, the KRG submitted an official proposal to the Iraqi cabinet requesting a meeting of the council to resolve outstanding issues and complete the requirements for implementing the agreement “without delay.”
The proposal included several key demands intended to balance federal oversight with the Region’s administrative particularities.
The demands include adopting bilingual customs tariffs in Kurdish and Arabic, granting Kurdish traders access to US dollars at the official exchange rate set by the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI), assigning a joint committee to conduct field visits to unrecognized border crossings in the Kurdistan Region to facilitate their formal legal integration, and mutually recognizing trade identities and tax clearance certificates issued by either the KRG or the federal government.
However, the lack of formal approval from the federal council has delayed implementation of the framework, which seeks to streamline trade and resolve the legal status of regional companies.
Developed by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in the early 1980s, the ASYCUDA electronic automation system is currently used at all 22 federal Iraqi border crossings, including major southern ports, to modernize and standardize customs operations.
Baghdad and Erbil have established four joint committees to finalize the agreement’s details, including committees focused on commerce, legal procedures, and ASYCUDA implementation.
Under the agreement, customs oversight would be conducted at border crossings and customs centers, while discussions continue over mechanisms for depositing revenues and determining the federal treasury’s share as part of broader efforts to boost non-oil revenues.
Haji Said noted that meetings between the joint committees continued until last week, adding that the KRG “reiterated its request for practical measures to facilitate traders’ access to dollars at the official exchange rate.”
Hastyar Qadir contributed to this article from Erbil, Kurdistan Region.
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