HS Classification under Customs Tariff Law 22 of 2010

1. Key takeaways

The legal foundation of Iraq’s current customs tariff is the Customs Tariff Law No. 22 of 2010 (قانون التعريفة الكمركية), published in the Official Gazette of Iraq No. 4147, dated 2010-12-06. Under the duty-reduction tables of Council of Ministers Resolution No. 393: HS Chapter 90 (optical, photographic, measuring, checking, monitoring or precision-adjusting instruments and apparatus, including medical or surgical instruments and apparatus, and parts and accessories) carries 15%, unit “unit”; HS Chapter 30 pharmaceuticals 10%; HS Chapter 94 medical and surgical furniture 15%; HS Chapter 34 dental waxes and gypsum-based dental preparations 10%; HS 84/85 30%. ⚠ These are chapter/heading-level rates, not 8-digit subheading-level, and the table contains no comparison with prior rates, so it must not be written as “reduced from X% to Y%”. HS misclassification is among the most expensive errors in the Iraqi import process.

• Chapter 90: 15%, unit “unit”; Chapter 30 (pharmaceuticals): 10%, unit “kilogram”; Chapter 94 (medical and surgical furniture): 15%; Chapter 34 (dental waxes and gypsum-based dental preparations): 10%; Chapters 84/85: 30%.
• Article 1 levies import duty per the customs tariff schedule annexed to the law; article 2 lets the Council of Ministers amend the schedule in full or in part.
• Article 4 exempts samples and prototypes of no commercial value from import duty, with the quota set by instruction of the Federal Minister of Finance; article 11 gives the law effect three months after gazette publication.
• The reduction table was produced under Council of Ministers Resolution No. 393, so the rates are the current position, changeable by later resolutions.

2. Legal basis

Two instruments are engaged: the Customs Tariff Law No. 22 of 2010, published in Official Gazette No. 4147 dated 2010-12-06, with articles 1, 2, 4 and 11 quoted here; and the duty-reduction tables produced under Council of Ministers Resolution No. 393, dated 2026-09-17 as marked on the website.

Evidence level: [first-hand, verified]. Originals of the tariff law: https://www.mof.gov.iq/api/download/920 and https://www.mof.gov.iq/api/download/921 (Iraqi Ministry of Finance website); the reduction table: https://www.mof.gov.iq/api/download/922 (a scan with no text layer, read page by page through OCR).

Verbatim extracts of the provisions:

• Article 1: import duty is levied on imported goods according to the customs tariff schedule annexed to this law.
• Article 2: the Council of Ministers may, at the request of the Federal Minister of Finance and in urgent economic or monetary circumstances, amend the tariff schedule in full or in part — the rates are variable.
• Article 4: samples and prototypes of no commercial value (العينات والنماذج التي ليست ذات قيمة تجارية) are exempt from import duty, with the quota determined by instruction of the Federal Minister of Finance.
• Article 11: the law takes effect three months after the day of its publication in the Official Gazette.

Reading of the duty-reduction table (chapter/heading level):

3. Expert insights

Insight 1: the cost of a wrong chapter is amplified in Iraq. The same “medical device with electrical parts” carries 15% in HS Chapter 90 but 30% in HS 84/85 — a gap of 15 percentage points. Worse, the chapter determines the competent channel and inspection path, so the rate difference is only the visible half of the cost. GRZAN puts HS classification at the first step of the project.

Insight 2: the unit of measurement “unit” is a trap for weight-based filing habits. Chapters 90 and 94 carry «عدد» (unit); chapters 30 and 34 carry «كغم» (kilogram). If the units on the invoice, packing list and declaration do not match the schedule, the mismatch triggers a comparison exception in the ASYCUDA stage — a trivial-looking column often stopped at clearance.

Insight 3: exhibition prototypes and samples have a statutory duty-free channel, but the quota rests with a Ministry of Finance instruction. Article 4 expressly exempts samples and prototypes of no commercial value from import duty and delegates the quota to the Federal Minister of Finance by instruction. The exemption stands, but “what counts as no commercial value” is not in the law. GRZAN recommends confirming the current quota with Customs before shipping prototypes. Practical estimate: the specific quota value has no official provision behind it (no official provision found).

Insight 4: rates are volatile; never hard-code the numbers. Article 2 authorises the Council of Ministers to amend the whole or part of the schedule in urgent economic or monetary circumstances, and the reduction table read here was itself produced under Resolution No. 393. The 15%, 10% and 30% given here are therefore the current position, rewritable by a new resolution. GRZAN marks the as-of date on every client document and never presents these as permanent rates.

Insight 5: falsification check — any fixed claim of “Iraq’s medical device import duty is X%” must first be asked for its source. Several fixed-rate figures circulate online; on this pass no basis pointing to a specific line of Law No. 22 of 2010 or the Resolution No. 393 reduction tables was retrieved in the directly accessible official channels. The more common error is treating the chapter/heading-level rates as 8-digit subheading-level ones — the table provides no subheading-level rates, so companies must first land the chapter under the HS rules, then confirm the tariff code.

4. Practical recommendations

• Complete HS classification first, issuing a written classification opinion stating the chapter relied on and the as-of date; GRZAN requires consistency across the product catalogue, invoice and packing list.
• Fill the unit of measurement per the schedule: chapters 90 and 94 take “unit”; chapters 30 and 34 take “kilogram”.
• Before routing prototypes and exhibition samples through the article 4 exemption, confirm the current quota with Customs. Practical estimate: the quota value has no official provision behind it (no official provision found).
• Treat the tariff as a variable in quotations and cost models, updated with each Council of Ministers resolution; never use these figures as a long-term pricing basis.
• Remediation after misclassification costs far more than classification in advance; GRZAN runs a “three-document comparison” (catalogue / invoice / declaration) before shipment.
• Duty structure and import cost modelling are covered in article 34; the pre-conditions of import payment (the advance customs declaration) in article 35; the combined cash rhythm in article 36. Duty burden and payment are treated in separate articles, so the same rate table is not reused elsewhere.

5. Verification checklist

• □ Download https://www.mof.gov.iq/api/download/920 and 921 and re-verify articles 1, 2, 4 and 11 of the Customs Tariff Law No. 22 of 2010
• □ Download https://www.mof.gov.iq/api/download/922 and re-verify the rates and units for chapters 90, 30, 94, 34 and 84/85
• □ Confirm the reduction table is still marked chapter/heading level, and do not rewrite it into 8-digit subheading-level rates
• □ Confirm the table contains no comparison with prior rates, and never write it as “reduced from X% to Y%”
• □ Search for the current instruction of the Federal Minister of Finance on the article 4 sample duty-free quota
• □ Verify that the HS codes and units on the product catalogue, commercial invoice, packing list and declaration are consistent
• □ Re-verify whether the cited official documents have been superseded (verification baseline date: 29 October 2026)

Regulatory information verified as of 29 October 2026.

How GRZAN can help. GRZAN provides medical device and IVD registration, quality system, authorised representative and local testing support for the Iraqi market. Our team prepares registration dossiers and legalisation chains, and supports post-market vigilance obligations. Business enquiries: info@grzanglobal.com