Ministry of Oil declared lately that all materials and equipment related to petroleum operations must be imported through Umm Qassr port exclusively.

Ministry of Oil has ALSO declared that the 1^st of June 2012, is the deadline for the admittance of any materials and equipment through Safwan border. In fact all imports through Safwan border for Ministry of Oil stopped since mid-May. This is applicable to all State companies and organizations under the umbrella of the Ministry of Oil.

Legalization of documents for Third Party Shipments
New procedures are implemented for the legalization of such shipments. All goods exported to the private sector, State Companies or/and Iraqi Ministries through a third party, in addition to the Commercial invoices, certificates of origin, should have the following documents legalized by the Iraqi Embassy at the country of origin:

• Bill of Lading legalized by the Iraqi Embassy.
• Insurance certificate legalized by the Iraqi Embassy.
• Certificate of Inspection legalized by the Iraqi Embassy

VOC INSPECTIONS
As from April 1^st, 2012, the Iraqi government has appointed only BUREAU VERITAS for quality certification of imports under its program “VoC Inspection” – Verification of Conformity Inspection”.  For more information visit: www.bureauveritas.com

BUREAU VERITAS provides approvals for shipments destined for all Iraq inclusive the Iraqi Kurdish Region (KRG).

SGS only provide approval for shipments destined to the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (KRG) via the KRG entry points. For more information visit: www.sgs.com

New customs law
It was announced by the Iraqi Ministry of Finance, Directorate of Customs, that as of 1^st of June 2012, a new customs law will be implemented, with a new customs tariff. It was not clear what will become of “Iraq Reconstruction Levy”, theoretically it will be cancelled, but then it is not clear how the exemptions will be implemented. Application of the new law has been postponed till the 1st of July 2012; however it might be postponed again. We will follow up and keep you informed

New Tariff for Iraqi Seaports
As by the 1^st of July 2012, The Iraqi Ministry of Transport has announced that a new port tariff will be in place. So far no information is available.

Certificate of Conformity Via Turkish/Iraqi borders, Ibrahim Al-Khalil
As from 01.04.2012 and along with the related original documents (commercial invoices, packing lists, certificates of origin etc..), submitting of the original “Certificate of Conformity”  from SGS or Bureau VERITAS at Ibrahim Al-Khalil Customs (Turkish/Iraqi border ) is obligatory”. For more info/details we recommend the Suppliers/Shippers to check with their consignees in Iraq as well as SGS and Bureau VERITAS offices in their countries for avoiding possible delays at the customs.

Due to the implementation of the VoC Inspection, a queue of 300- 400 trucks are stuck at the borders to enter due of not having the needed documents.