Baghdad demands all customs revenue from Kurdistan Region crossings

According to KurdPress, Sami Jalal, legal advisor to the Kurdistan Region Ministry of Interior and head of the negotiating team for the implementation of the Asikoda system, explained the details of the latest negotiations with Baghdad in an interview with Rudaw Network.

He said that a 16-article agreement was signed between Erbil and Baghdad last June on the implementation of this system, but three issues remained in dispute: unofficial crossings, customs exemptions and support for domestic production, and the method of dividing customs revenues from border crossings.Jalal said that the Iraqi Finance Minister insisted during the negotiations that 100 percent of the revenue from the crossings should be returned to the Iraqi general treasury.

According to him, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has presented two proposals: first, that the KRG receive 100 percent of the revenue and return 50 percent to Baghdad; and second, that two separate accounts be created in the Asikoda system for the revenues of the KRG and Baghdad.

He added that these two proposals were supposed to be presented as two options to the Iraqi Council of Ministers and a decision would be made there, but after a few months, the text sent by Baghdad was changed without the KRG’s knowledge, stating that all revenue should be transferred to the Baghdad general treasury.

The head of the KRG negotiating team called this an “illegal change” and said that this clause was changed without the KRG’s knowledge and without referring the matter back to the Economic Council.Sami Jalal also said that the Iraqi Prime Minister had proposed in a recent meeting that all the revenues from the crossings should be at the disposal of the region, but in return, this amount should be deducted from the region's share in paying employees' salaries.

He added that the regional council had completely rejected this proposal.

He emphasized: "We demand 50 percent of the revenues from the crossings, and the special characteristics of the Kurdistan Region must be taken into account."

Sami Jalal predicted that an agreement would be reached temporarily to divide the revenues 50 percent for the Kurdistan Region and 50 percent for Baghdad until the Iraqi budget law is implemented.

He also said that the Iraqi Council of Ministers meeting to discuss this issue has been postponed for a week.Earlier, Samer Qassem, Director General of Iraqi Customs, announced on September 4 that Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region have reached the final stage of implementing the "ASICODA" system, and practical measures to implement this system and train the region's staff are expected to begin in early October.

On June 18, 2026, after nearly two years of negotiations, the Kurdistan Regional Government and the General Organization of Iraqi Customs signed a 16-article agreement to implement the ASICODA system in the region.

ASICODA is an international electronic system for customs management and trade facilitation, designed to organize revenues, prevent corruption, and accelerate the process of commercial transactions at border crossings.