Economic expert Dr. Safwan Qusay said the problem of goods entering Iraq through unofficial border crossings in the Kurdistan Region can be fixed.
Speaking to dinaropinions.com, Qusay explained that applying the SKODA system at all Iraqi border crossings would greatly reduce customs fraud. He said the system now calculates customs based on weight and value instead of size, making it much harder to manipulate paperwork. With everything tracked electronically, traders won’t be able to change the type of goods or lower invoice values. This, he said, would clearly increase Iraq’s customs revenues.
Qusay added that unofficial border crossings, or those that do not follow federal customs tariffs—like some in the Kurdistan Region—would be cut off from access to U.S. dollars. He explained that the Central Bank would not approve foreign money transfers at the official 1,300 dinar rate unless full and proper documents are submitted through the SKODA system.
He also pointed out that traders who already work legally, using bank transfers, letters of credit, and the SKODA system, should not raise prices on imported goods in central and southern Iraq. This pressure, he said, would push unofficial traders and some Kurdistan-based traders to come to Baghdad, open bank accounts, improve their business practices, and import goods through official channels like everyone else.
Qusay concluded by saying that if this does not happen, the Ministry of Finance could notify Turkey that goods entering through Kurdistan’s border crossings are unofficial. He stressed that this issue should have already been settled inside Parliament.
