✈️ Air Freight

Air Freight from China to Erbil

China → Erbil · via EBL air / Umm Qasr sea · clearance by General Commission of Customs, Iraq

Cargo handling on the China–Erbil lane.

Freight from China into Erbil clears through EBL air / Umm Qasr sea. Erbil is Kurdistan Region capital with its own customs handling, and allow +3 days for the inland leg on top of clearance.

Clearance itself is handled by General Commission of Customs, Iraq, and typical dwell at the gateway runs 7–15 days.

What the routing looks like in practice

Umm Qasr is the sea gateway for federal Iraq, while the Kurdistan Region is more often served by air into Erbil or overland from Turkey and Iran. The two administrations apply customs differently, so the destination city changes the process — not just the trucking leg. A pre-shipment Certificate of Conformity is the single most important document on this lane.

Air gateways used	BGW (Baghdad), EBL (Erbil), BSR (Basra)
Air transit, China to gateway	4–7 business days
Gateway serving Erbil	EBL air / Umm Qasr sea
Inland leg to Erbil	+3 days from the gateway
Typical clearance / dwell	7–15 days
Peak season to plan around	Sep–Nov

Duty, tax and clearance into Erbil

Imports into Iraq are cleared by General Commission of Customs, Iraq. The headline position is: Customs duty 0.5–30% plus a reconstruction levy; regional variations apply in the Kurdistan Region. The de-minimis threshold is No practical de-minimis.

Conformity is the part most first-time importers underestimate: Certificate of Conformity (COC) issued pre-shipment under the Iraqi conformity program is mandatory for most goods. Getting this wrong is expensive because it usually cannot be fixed after the cargo has landed.

Restrictions and known friction points for Iraq: A pre-shipment COC is mandatory for most commercial goods; cargo arriving without it faces heavy penalties. Security and route conditions affect inland delivery. Confirm which customs administration applies to the final destination.

Air cargo build-up used on the China to Erbil (Iraq) freight lane — Handling on the EBL air / Umm Qasr sea routing serving Erbil.

What to sort out before the cargo leaves China

Check the de-minimis position (No practical de-minimis) against your invoice value before you decide how to split the shipment.
Get the conformity paperwork moving early: Certificate of Conformity (COC) issued pre-shipment under the Iraqi conformity program is mandatory for most goods.
Use ISPM-15 treated pallets. Untreated wood is the most common reason otherwise-clean cargo gets held.
Plan around the China-side windows too: Chinese New Year and Golden Week both compress capacity on the Iraq lane.
Compare gross weight against volumetric weight (L×W×H ÷ 6000) — the higher figure is what gets billed on air and express.
Put the Erbil delivery address, contact name and phone number on the invoice, not just the packing list.

Frequently asked questions

How long does shipping from China to Erbil take?

China to the Iraq gateway is 4–7 business days. On top of that, allow 7–15 days of clearance with General Commission of Customs, Iraq and a +3 days inland leg to Erbil.

What duty and tax will I pay importing into Erbil?

General Commission of Customs, Iraq applies: Customs duty 0.5–30% plus a reconstruction levy; regional variations apply in the Kurdistan Region. The de-minimis position is No practical de-minimis. Under a DDP arrangement these are pre-paid, so nothing is collected on arrival in Erbil.

Can you deliver door-to-door in Erbil?

Yes. Delivery to a Erbil address is quoted as one figure covering freight, duty and tax owed to General Commission of Customs, Iraq, and the +3 days inland leg. Confirm whether your consignee wants the goods at a warehouse, a marketplace fulfillment center or a shop front, because the last-mile requirement differs.

When is the busiest time on the China–Iraq lane?

Space and rates tighten around Sep–Nov, plus the China-side windows of Chinese New Year in January or February and Golden Week in early October. Book one to two weeks earlier in those periods.

What documents does General Commission of Customs, Iraq require?

A commercial invoice with HS codes, a packing list, the bill of lading or air waybill, a certificate of origin where it lowers duty, and any product certification (Certificate of Conformity (COC) issued pre-shipment under the Iraqi conformity program is mandatory for most goods). We prepare and file these as part of the service.

Can you ship batteries or sensitive cargo to Erbil?

Yes. Battery cargo by air follows IATA PI 965–970 depending on how the cells are packed, and moves on certified channels via BGW (Baghdad), EBL (Erbil), BSR (Basra). Surcharges apply and the declaration has to be made before booking.

Other delivery cities in Iraq

All Iraq freight information →

References & official sources

Duty rates, thresholds and conformity requirements for Iraq change by ministerial decision, sometimes mid-year. The figures on this page are buyer-planning references, not a customs ruling — confirm the current position for your own HS code with General Commission of Customs, Iraq or your broker before you ship.

Page data last reviewed: 8 月 2026.

Shipping by industry

This page covers the route and clearance picture for the destination. Packing, classification and the compliance step that actually holds a shipment depend on what you are sending — these guides cover that by commodity.

All 139 industry guides →

Checking the Iraq duty position yourself

Duty and tax figures on this page are planning estimates. The binding assessment is made by General Commission of Customs, Iraq against your declared HS code at the time of entry; where the amount is material, verify the current rate through ITC Market Access Map before committing to an order.

If you want to sanity-check a duty figure yourself, start from the heading rather than the product name — the WCO Harmonized System is the underlying nomenclature, and the WTO Tariff & Trade Data portal holds the applied rates by country pair.

On the air side, anything with a cell or a battery in it, plus liquids, powders, magnets and aerosols, is governed by the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations. Those articles are not refused outright, but they need to be declared at booking so the shipment is built correctly — declaring them late is the single most common cause of an air consignment being offloaded.

On the origin side, export declaration and any commodity inspection requirement fall under China Customs (GACC); we handle that filing as part of the service, but the requirement is theirs, not ours.

If this is your first shipment into Iraq, the Iraq Country Commercial Guide covers the practical import environment in more depth than a rate page reasonably can, and it is written by a party with no stake in your booking.

Watch: the process behind this route

This guide covers routing and clearance for Erbil. The video below covers the wider shipping process that sits around it.

Air Freight from China: Soaring Through the Skies of Global Trade — SINO Shipping. Published on YouTube by a third party; we link it because it explains the process well, not because we produced it or endorse the provider.

Get a rate for Erbil

This lane is quoted per shipment rather than from a published rate card, because the landed cost depends on the commodity, its density, the conformity requirements above and the delivery point. Send the cargo details and we will come back with a full DDP figure.

Request a quote → See the Iraq route page →

Customs clearance in Iraq

Duty and tax position, certification, typical port dwell and what actually holds shipments at this border — plus who files the entry.

Iraq clearance requirements →