Iraqi customs checkpoints hinder trade from Kurdistan

Iraqi authorities have begun imposing elevated fees on goods moving through two existing customs points separating the Kurdistan Region from the rest of the country, a trader said on Wednesday.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi authorities have begun imposing elevated fees on goods moving through two existing customs points separating the Kurdistan Region from the rest of the country, a trader said on Wednesday.

Baghdad recently unilaterally installed a checkpoint, supervised by the Iraqi Federal Police, on the road linking the provinces of Kirkuk and Erbil where customs agents collect tolls on trucks driving with merchandise from, or passing through, the Kurdistan Region to the rest of Iraq. Another similar location is on the road linking Sulaimani and Kirkuk.

After months of negotiations, officials from Erbil and Baghdad finally settled on reopening the Erbil-Kirkuk road as the two governments continue easing tensions following a breakdown as a result of the Kurdistan Region's controversial independence referendum.

The central government rejected the results of the polls and put into effect a set of punitive measures on the KRG, including border closures, an international flight ban, and the use of military force on Oct. 16, 2017, to regain control of territories disputed between the two administrations.

"We have stopped exports (to the rest of Iraq)… Most of the items we have now are piling up in storage houses as a result of the large percentage in customs duties the Iraqi authorities demand," a Kurdish merchant told Kurdistan 24, asking to remain anonymous.

The two customs points, placed only two weeks ago, "have become a source of great concern for the traders of the Kurdistan Region, as the taxes and fees collected by the Hashd al-Shaabi [militias] are illegal and groundless," the merchant claimed.

One trucker who has transported goods through the checkpoint told Kurdistan 24 that Iraqi authorities demanded 100,000 IDQ on any truck crossing the two customs points as a result of the measures.

"We have a big problem," one of them said. "All the goods that we were sending to Kirkuk and the rest of Iraq have stopped because of customs duties and fees imposed on us."

He continued, "Trade in the Kurdistan region is in danger and in a bad situation because of this."

Merchants have called on the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to hold a special meeting to take this issue into consideration.

Officials in Erbil have previously called on the federal government to end such fees, which they see as exorbitant and unnecessary.

Iraqi authorities have added eight security points in addition to four points to weigh loads of the trucks, resulting in congested roads and disincentivizing traders from continuing regular business as many have done for years or even decades.

Editing by John J. Catherine