ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s state-run standards and quality assurance control agency said on Sunday that approximately four tons of gold were imported into the country in the first four months of 2026.
“Gold is exclusively imported through airports,” Fayadh al-Dulaimi, head of the Iraqi Central Organization for Standardization and Quality Control (COSQC), told Rudaw, estimating that “around 95 percent of shipments came from the United Arab Emirates [UAE], while the remaining five percent were imported from Turkey.”
Dulaimi noted that inspection units at airports operate around the clock to expedite testing and sealing procedures and prevent delays for incoming gold shipments.
He added however that the four-ton figure does not include the Kurdistan Region, since “it is not covered by their procedures and that federal inspectors are not present at its airports to examine and hallmark imported gold.