ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A prominent Turkmen politician representing Kirkuk in the Iraqi parliament, Arshad al-Salihi, warned on Saturday that new federal trade restrictions on shipments from the Kurdistan Region could lead to empty markets in Kirkuk and Mosul.
In a video message posted on his Facebook page, Salihi stated, “Traders across Iraq in general and traders of Kirkuk and Mosul in part, are caught in the crosshairs of the dispute between the [Kurdistan] Regional Government (KRG) and the Federal Government [of Iraq].”
Addressing Erbil and Baghdad, the lawmaker urged, “Please sideline the ordinary citizen from your conflicts as they are the ones who lose the most,” adding, “Enough disputes!”
Head of advisors for the Federation of Iraqi Chambers of Commerce, Maysam Bolani, told Rudaw in early April that new regulations by Baghdad mandate that only trucks with QR-coded customs seals can enter federal Iraq. Shipments must remain sealed and be delivered within 72 hours between the Kurdistan Region’s Duhok province and the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, she explained.
This policy follows a March 11 directive from the Central Bank of Iraq and applies to shipments from Turkey and Iran via Kurdistan Region’s border crossings, according to Bolani.
Transit permits for trucks carrying goods from the Kurdistan Region to other parts of Iraq expired on April 15.
Speaking to Rudaw in April, an advisor to the Erbil Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Salahuddin Ahmed, noted that the new regulations violate Article 24 of the Iraqi constitution, which guarantees the free movement of goods between the Kurdistan Region and federal Iraq.
Around that time, the head of the Kurdistan Importers and Exporters Union, Mustafa Sheikh Abdulrahman, told Rudaw that this policy has led to the depletion of many warehouses in the Kurdistan Region.
In April as well, an official from the Erbil Chamber of Commerce, who spoke to Rudaw on condition of anonymity, stated that the restrictions also apply to locally produced goods, further exacerbating the situation.
