No obstacles remain to ASYCUDA rollout: KRG interior minister

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - No obstacles remain to implementing the ASYCUDA electronic customs system in the Kurdistan Region after Erbil and Baghdad finalized an agreement on sharing border revenues, the Kurdistan Region Interior Minister announced onTuesday.

"According to the law and the constitution, it must be fifty-fifty, and there will be a dedicated account for it. This point has been finalized," Interior Minister of the Kurdistan Region, Rebar Ahmad, told Rudaw's Ranja Jamal regarding the remaining clause of the agreement concerning the distribution of revenues collected at the crossings.

"No obstacles remain to the implementation of the ASYCUDA system," Ahmed said, ensuring that "with the implementation of the ASYCUDA system, all commercial movement at the border crossings will flourish."

ASYCUDA, an electronic customs platform developed by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in the early 1980s, digitizes and standardizes customs procedures and is currently operational at all 22 federal border crossings in Iraq.

Ahmed clarified that Prime Minister Masrour Barzani directly oversaw negotiations and discussed the issue with the federal prime minister on several occasions, reiterating that the system would benefit both the Kurdistan Region and the federal government by ensuring that revenues collected through customs are properly accounted for by both sides.

The development comes after months of negotiations over ASYCUDA’s implementation and administration at the Kurdistan Region's border crossings. 

The issue has gained urgency as traders and truck drivers have continued to report delays and alleged demands for bribes at checkpoints between the Kurdistan Region and federal Iraq.

In a Rudaw report in early August, truck drivers said they were being forced to wait for hours at the Daraman checkpoint on the Erbil-Kirkuk road. Some also alleged that security personnel demanded additional payment before their paperwork could be processed.

Ahmed said such checkpoints have no legal basis and should disappear with the implementation of the new system.

This follows the KRG and Iraq’s General Commission of Customs’ signing of a 16-point agreement in June to resolve outstanding issues over trade through the Kurdistan Region’s border crossings, including company registration, adding Kurdish to ASYCUDA and unifying customs tariffs.

Iraqi customs officials had previously said staff training and practical preparations for the system's implementation at Kurdistan Region crossings were expected to begin in early August.

The system has also been linked to access to US dollars at the Central Bank of Iraq's official exchange rate, with merchants required to meet federal customs and approval requirements.