ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Iraqi federal government have reached a “final agreement” on the implementation of the ASYCUDA customs system and the resolution of all outstanding customs disputes, the Kurdistan Region’s interior minister said on Thursday. 

The agreement came after repeated meetings by a joint committee, overseen by Iraq’s Border Ports Authority, to assess the Kurdistan Region’s border crossings.

Minister Rebar Ahmed told Iraq’s state-owned al-Sabah newspaper that “the final point of contention regarding the distribution of border crossing revenues, in accordance with the constitution, was resolved with a 50 percent share for both Erbil and Baghdad.” 

“The implementation of the customs system came under the direct supervision of Masrour Barzani, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government,” Ahmed said. 

In July, the head of the KRG’s delegation for customs disputes Sami Jalal told The New Region that the crossings that have the necessary infrastructure for the ASYCUDA customs system will be officially recognized, while the ones that do not will be shut down within 30 days. 

Standing for the Automated System for Customs Data, ASYCUDA is a wholly digitalized border control system whose software was developed by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

According to its website, the mechanism "handles manifests and customs declarations, along with accounting, transit and suspense procedures. It also generates trade data that can be used for statistical economic analysis." 

Amid the dispute, Baghdad imposed a trade embargo on the Kurdistan Region, restricted traders' access to US dollars, and established customs checkpoints between the Kurdistan Region and federal Iraq, limiting the movement of locally produced goods and exports.