Iraq customs gives orders to ban alcohol import

Iraq's customs department on Saturday (March 4) gave orders to start enforcement of alcohol import ban. A law in this regard was passed last month. There were divisions over it.

But the specialist retail stores that dominate alcohol sales in the virtual absence of bars or licensed restaurants remained open for business, at least in Baghdad, as reported by AFP.

Consumption of alcohol in public is frowned upon in Muslim-majority Iraq but it can be readily purchased from liquor shops. Many of them are run by members of non-Muslim communities.

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The new legislation, which bans the sale, import or production of alcohol, was originally approved by parliament in 2016 but only became law following its publication in the official gazette on February 20.

"The General Customs Authority has given orders to all customs centres to ban the entry of all types of alcoholic drink," the authority said in a statement.

The new law sets fines of between 10 million and 25 million dinars ($7,700-$19,000) for violations.

But it contradicts a government decree adopted less than a week earlier on February 14, setting duty at 200 percent on all imported alcoholic drinks for the next four years.

(With inputs from agencies)