The Scrap Trade in Iraq: Calls to Regulate Transport and Sales and Enhance Oversight

Scrap metal and industrial and military waste in Iraq have turned into a trade worth billions of dinars, sparking widespread controversy over the mechanisms of their sale and transport, and the benefiting parties. While these materials are considered an important economic resource in many countries, Iraq faces regulatory challenges that allow some usable assets to be sold at low prices or smuggled outside legal frameworks. Lawmakers and industrial experts confirmed that this issue has raised many question marks, as the "scrap" classification is exploited to dismantle entire production lines and sell them at cheap prices to generate illicit profits. Specialists emphasized the necessity of forming a supreme committee to monitor this file and subjecting the transport of iron and scrap to strict procedures to prevent fraud and the depletion of state resources. They noted that numerous cases are currently under investigation by regulatory authorities after networks involved in smuggling operations were dismantled.