Governments have many responsibilities, but one of the main requirements of government is not to get in the way.

If an economy is to grow, the administration must facilitate, or at the very least not hinder, people who are trying to create value, satisfy demand, and serve customers.

But the new inspection regime at Iraqi ports of entry is proving to be a major headache for many businesses trying to bring goods into the country.

Iraq’s Central Organization for Standardization and Quality Control (COSQC) has started implementing the Pre-Importation Inspection, Testing, and certification of Goods into Iraq (ICIGI); in many cases, we are told, even ignoring the two months grace period.

Confusion over the requirements for Certificates of Conformity, and long delays in issuing them, have resulted in a huge backlog of freight at Iraq’s borders, racking up charges and leaving orders unfulfilled.

According to Frankie France, director of Redcliffe International, the new regulations have not been thought through:

“I’ve been shipping to Iraq for 21 years, and despite the wars there was some structure … shipments were cleared and delivered … Now it seems that someone has come up with this new idea, forgetting how many hundreds of containers would be stuck at the quay at Umm Qasr for more than two months.”

These problems must be resolved with top priority.

[Please click here to see information provided by SGS, the company responsible for ICIGI, received following publication.]

High-ranking officials from Iraq and the Netherlands have met to discuss Dutch participation in developing Iraq’s sea-ports, according to a report from Contstruction Weekly.

Omran Radi, the director of the State Company of Iraq Ports and Yaron Rodenberg, the Dutch ambassador to Iraq, met this month to explore potential cooperation and work together to develop and modernise the sea-ports of Iraq.

“Omran Radi discussed during his meeting with the Dutch Ambassador joint ventures to develop sea-ports of Iraq and the contribution of Dutch companies in the process of construction and reconstruction,” said the Ministry of Transport.

Since the conclusion of the conflict in Iraq, Dutch companies have built a number of rigs for oil work, and operate in a variety of Iraqi ports.

In recent weeks, the Basra Investment Commission and the Dutch Economy Council held an conference in the ‘Sheraton’ Hotel in Basra, which was attended by seven Dutch companies, with a view to increasing cooperation.

(Sources: Construction Weekly, BIC)

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari denied allegations that he or his ministry had been bribed by Kuwait in order to settle the dispute over Kuwait’s new Mubarak Port, according to a report from AKnews.

Although Zebari stated that these allegations would not deserve a response, he labeled the allegations as “fabricated” and “defamatory”.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not engaged in bribery,” he said. “And we began proceedings today to prosecute every person who says that.”

Zebari added that the Mubarak Port was not discussed when an Iraqi delegation recently visited Kuwait. Allegedly, the talks had just been over “other outstanding issues with Kuwait,” said Zebari.

The parliamentary Integrity Committee had revealed on Sunday that it had information that the technical delegation from the Ministries of Transport and Foreign Affairs that visited Kuwait to examine the construction of Mubarak Port received gifts from Kuwait.

In early September, the Minister was quoted as saying that the dispute with Kuwait was resolved.

(Sources: AKnews, Al Sumaria News)

Minister Ali al-Dabbagh, Iraqi Government Spokesman, was interviewed by Padraig O’Hannelly for Iraq Business News at last week’s Iraq Mining 2011 conference in London. In this first part of the interview, Dr al-Dabbagh discusses the controversial Mubarak port:

Iraq Business News: Firstly, Dr Ali al-Dabbagh, thank you for agreeing to speak to us. I’d like to start with a question regarding the Mubarak al-Kabir [Kabeer] port project in Kuwait: There have been some reports in recent days that that whole issue has been resolved, that it’s not going to affect shipping into Iraq and so on. Can you confirm Iraq’s position on the project?

Dr Ali al-Dabbagh: The Government of Iraq has not yet given its final opinion about the Mubarak port. We do feel that there is a negative affect on our navigation lines, and the issue briefly is that the strait, which is 8km wide, is split in half – half to Kuwait and half to Iraq – as per Resolution 833 of the United Nations. The Iraqi side is very shallow, and not suitable for shipping; the Kuwaiti side has a [section] which is suitable for navigation, and it is only used by Iraqi vessels crossing to Umm Qasr. Kuwaitis never use this side.

The [UN] resolution gives the right to Iraq to navigate through the Kuwaiti water without paying any fees and without raising any Kuwait flags, so we have the right to use that passage, and any construction in that part we feel is going to obstruct our navigation. And because Iraq has very limited access to the Gulf we feel that is going to create a very high negative affect on our future lines for navigation, so we have asked the Kuwaitis to wait until we get the full information that this is not going to affect us.

Kuwait say they are making the construction on ‘zero low tide’, which means there is no projection of the construction in the water. We want to be sure that there is no … negative influence, neither environmentally, commercially, nor on navigation or trading. This port is being built to serve Iraq, because the other side of Boubiyan Island is not facing to Kuwait, it is facing to the Faw Peninsula, and in order for this port to work you need to maintain a good relation with the people who benefit out of this, which means Iraqis in this case. Without having a proper arrangement with Iraq I think we can’t accept this construction unless we are sure that this is not going to harm us. We have the full right to be worried about this issue, and we don’t want to create any problems to Kuwait, but we maintain the full right to protect our interests, and the interests of the Iraqi people.

According to a report from Associated Press, Iraq’s Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari (pictured) says that a dispute over a planned Kuwaiti port has been resolved, and that the facility will not disrupt Iraqi shipping in the Persian Gulf.

The minister said that a technical review showed that the Mubarak port on Boubiyan Island “won’t affect our navigation,” as had been feared.

In an interview late on Sunday, Zebari said the review “removed the fears of the Mubarak port.”

The Construction of the facility off Kuwait’s coast raised new tensions between the two nations this summer.

Iraq initially objected to the port and feared the country would be cut off from the lucrative Gulf shipping trade just as it regains its economic footing.

(Source: Associated Press)

According to lawmakers, the border area between Kuwait and Iraq should no longer be disputed territory. However Iraqi locals see it differently and accuse Kuwait of blocking their waterways, stealing their oil and teaching their children untruths about the area, according to this report from Niqash.

As dusk falls along the southern borders that Iraq shares with Kuwait, the lights of the Kuwaitis mining gas and oil in the region begin to glow. But the pretty scenery hides a spot with a particularly troubled history and, it seems, a troubled future.

The area, about 40 kilometres west of Basra, was the subject of United Nations Security Council Resolution 833, adopted in 1993, which precisely marked the previous borders between Iraq and Kuwait following a ceasefire agreement after Iraq’s invasion of its neighbour. In 2004 the Kuwaiti authorities built a multi-million dollar metal barrier along the border that stretches over 200 kilometres.

The resolution saw a significant amount of land, hosting both oil wells and agriculture such as tomato farms, passed from Iraq to Kuwait, as well as the establishment of a wide zone of neutrality between the two countries. Various issues are still disputed and Basra’s citizenry has also complained that the Kuwaitis took advantage of Iraq’s internal turmoil, following the 2003 US-led invasion of their country, to exploit resources on the shared border.

A high ranking official in the Safwan area, where the border is, told NIQASH that locals are not happy with either the Kuwaitis or the Iraqi federal government. They describe “the unjust demarcation of borders as well as their government’s reluctance to put an end to this injustice,” said the official, who had had some of his own land confiscated when the new border was marked out.

The Iraqi Transport Ministry said on Wednesday that the designs for Grand al-Faw port will be ready in less than a year.

AKnews reports that the statements said that all the necessary preparations have been made to initiate the construction of the port including the financial allocations and the technical and engineering staffing.

Iraq announced its intention to build the port in 2005 and the foundation stone was laid in April 2010. But Kuwait took advantage of the delay in progress to announce the construction of Mubarak Port, just a few kilometers away from the al-Faw site, throwing doubt on the economic feasibility of the Iraqi port.

Al-Faw will cost approximately $5 billion and will have an estimated capacity of 99 million tons per year making it one of the largest ports in the Persian Gulf.

An Italian company will implement the project and has begun working on the designs of the port.

“The Ministry is serious about building the port immediately after the completion of its own designs. The ministry has provided all the requirements needed for the establishment of the port especially with regard to the financial allocations.”

(Source: AKnews)

Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki and his Kuwaiti counterpart, Naser al-Subah, have been talking directly by telephone to try to prevent a diplomatic crisis from worsening.

A spokesperson for Maliki said on Monday that Kuwait had shown “more flexibility” in ongoing discussions over a new Kuwaiti port.

Mubarak Port, due to be completed in 2016, has caused a huge storm to build between the two countries because it is believed by many that it will devastate Iraq’s maritime economy.

The Iraqi government wants Kuwait to pause the construction until it can be established that the port will not affect Iraqi interests. Kuwait has said that the building work cannot be put on hold.

The tensions have become so serious that there is now talk of war. This is a continuation of border disputes between the two countries lasting half a century, according to the Tehran Times.

However, Iraqi MP Ameer al-Kinani said that Kuwait will not go through with the port, because their neighbour’s economic interests will not be affected. Kuwait already has three ports to Iraq’s one deep-water port of Umm Qasr.

(Source: Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office; Aknews; Aswat al-Iraq; Tehran Times)