A KRG official reports that beginning September1, 2008, no single food item can enter Kurdistan Region without a government license and quality control check.

After intensified efforts to improve the quality control system in Kurdistan Region, things have dramatically improved, says Dr. Muayad A. Koji, senior advisor to the Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani for Quality Control Affairs and head of the region's Quality Control Office.

Quality control has not been effective since the early 1990s when the great revolution took place and the region gained autonomy from the Baathist Regime. This resulted in a continuous decline in the quality and safety of imports. Especially after the beginning of the 2003 Iraq War, a flood of imports entered Kurdistan without any kind of quality control. Cheap and low-quality products proliferated in the markets and demand increased as well. This has been intensified by the paralyzed local production and agriculture. Now even very basic foodstuff such as drinking water is imported.

The region's Quality Control Office, which is an affiliate to the Ministry of Health and connected to other ministries such as Planning, Trade, and Agriculture, was built last year, but due to several technical problems it has not yet reached full operation. According to Koji, the main drawbacks are lack of electricity needed to operate lab equipment and lack of experts to use the equipment.

"Electricity has delayed us for more than six months," Koji told the Globe in an exclusive interview. "A team of engineers and technicians are coming from Lebanon to reduce the power consumption level of the office so that we can use the machines with the power supply we have."

However, officials from the government and related ministries have made some progress in preparing for quality control, such as passing some regulations, informing the merchants who import food and medicine to the region, entering into agreements with international quality control organizations, and setting up offices at the region's borders to control imports.

"In the last meeting with many government officials from ministries of Health, Planning, Trade, and Agriculture, as well as local traders, we decided to develop a three-stage plan for licensing imports," Koji said. "As from July 1, 2008, to August 1, 2008, all kinds of drinks, such as bottled water, juices, soft drinks, and energy drinks are to be licensed and controlled. From August a new list will go into effect, and finally as of September 1, no single food item enters the Region by unlicensed traders and without certification of a reputable international organization with which we will be signing contract."

A trader from Duhok, who used to import beef from India for about 10 years without a license, explained to Koji at his office that he has been denied the right to import the same kind of meat because a laboratory result of the beef from Lebanon shows that it doesn't meet Iraqi standards.

"We have been importing this for more than 10 years, and no one has told us not to do that," said the trader. "They have told us that the sample of the beef that had been sent to Lebanon proved to be bad."

The Iraqi standards that are used to license imports were set in the 1980s and have not been updated since then. This creates several problems. For instance, there are some new products that are not covered by those standards.

The KRG, however, has discussed the issue with Baghdad and demanded that they revise the standards and amend some of them where necessary.

Koji explained the new regulations and procedures as he showed the trader the report that he received from Lebanon. The report consisted of test results for a great number of imported food samples, all of which proved negative. Later on, the trader was advised to fill out an application form for the purpose of acquiring a license, in which he has to provide detailed information about his company and the producers of the items he is importing.

"We will contact the source company directly and check the reliability of the information provided in the application form as well as the quality of products the company produces," explained Koji.

Among those organizations that the KRG is trying to sign agreements with are SGS International and Alex Stern. Those organizations, according to the agreement to be signed with them, are to control the quality of imports from the producers and monitor their transportation from the source to the region; this includes controlling how they are packed, loaded, shipped, and unloaded.

This is, of course, to be done after the initial license is given to the producer and trader by the Quality Control Office.

Another department in the Quality Control Office, besides that of foodstuff, is the health department, which controls the quality of medicine imports to Kurdistan. The same rules will apply.

Regarding the sources of low-quality imports, Koji said that they come either from neighboring countries like Iran and Turkey or from other parts of the country. According to him, they have fewer problems with imports from Turkey since there are fewer ways for smuggled goods to enter from the Turkish border. Smuggling from Iran is more notable. However, the greatest threat comes from imports within the country, specifically from the central and southern regions, because it's harder to control the flow and control of goods already inside Iraq.