According to KRG’s Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources’ list of tariffs on produce, tariffs would be imposed on imported apples and pomegranates from Tuesday to the end of this year.
A 600 IQD ($0.39) tariff will be imposed on per kilo of pomegranate until December 15 and a 750 IQD ($0.49) tariff will be imposed on per kilo of apple until December 1.
Hiwa Ali, head of the ministry’s media directorate, told Rudaw on Tuesday that “the list has been approved by the Council of Minister and the agriculture ministry … and its aim is to preserve local produce and [support] its marketing.”
According to data obtained by Rudaw, 10-15 thousand tons of apples and 50-60 thousand tons of pomegranate are imported to the Kurdistan Region annually.
The majority of the imported produce comes from neighbouring Turkey and Iran.
Despite having a fertile soil, the Kurdistan Region often struggles with putting local produce into the market.
In recent years, farmers trampled their own tomatoes in protest over low prices, and potato farmers dumped their produce in the street, protesting the presence of banned imports that pushed their produce out of the market.
Kurdistan Region started exporting its potato produce to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) earlier this month. A portion of the demand comes from McDonald's restaurants in the UAE.
Last year, the Region made the first-ever export of its renowned pomegranates to Gulf countries.
