Iraq bans importing pomegranates

Shafaq News / The Ministry of Agriculture announced on Thursday banning the import of pomegranates, indicating that the decision was taken to protect the domestic product.

The ministry's spokesman, Hamid Al-Nayef, said in a statement, "the ministry's policy is to protect the local product and the consumer as well, by adopting an agricultural calendar, as well as the data received from the directorates of agriculture", calling on all border crossings to abide by the implementation of this decision.

The decision comes after the Aegean Exporters' Unions announced that Iraq was the second-largest importer of pomegranates from Turkey during the first nine months of 2020, as it imported a 12 million and 771 thousand dollars-worth quantity of pomegranates.

This decision sparked controversy, prompting the Iraqi ministry of agriculture to issue a clarification. The ministry explained that unlike earlier stages, Iraq currently has self-sufficiency of this product.