Sea Freight from China to Erbil
China → Erbil · via EBL air / Umm Qasr sea · clearance by General Commission of Customs, Iraq
We move sea freight cargo from South China into Erbil through EBL air / Umm Qasr sea. Erbil is Kurdistan Region capital with its own customs handling, which shapes the kind of cargo that moves on this lane and how it should be packed.
Clearance itself is handled by General Commission of Customs, Iraq, and typical dwell at the gateway runs 7–15 days.
Routing and transit on this lane
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.
| Sea gateways used | Umm Qasr |
|---|---|
| Sea transit, China to gateway | 20–30 calendar 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.
Before you book: Erbil checklist
- 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.
- Ask for the HS code in writing from your supplier and verify the Iraq duty rate against it yourself.
- Confirm the consignee in Erbil can act as importer of record — General Commission of Customs, Iraq will not release cargo to an unregistered party.
- Budget for the inland leg: +3 days beyond gateway clearance to reach Erbil.
- Declare lithium batteries, magnets, liquids and powders up front — retro-declaring after booking usually means re-planning the whole shipment.
Frequently asked questions
How long does shipping from China to Erbil take?
China to the Iraq gateway is 20–30 calendar 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 ship batteries or sensitive cargo to Erbil?
Yes. Battery cargo by sea moves under UN3480/UN3481 with an MSDS, and the dangerous-goods documentation is prepared as part of the booking into Umm Qasr. Surcharges apply and space is more limited than for general cargo.
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.
How is the chargeable weight calculated for Erbil?
We compare actual gross weight against volumetric weight — length × width × height in centimeters divided by 6000 for air — and bill the greater of the two, rounded up to the next kilogram. Light, bulky cargo is almost always billed on volume.
Is sea freight cheaper than air freight into Erbil?
Per kilo, yes — usually by a wide margin. The trade-off is time: 20–30 calendar days by sea versus 4–7 business days by air to the Iraq gateway, before clearance and the +3 days inland leg. The crossover point is normally somewhere between 100 and 300 kg depending on the density of your cargo.
Other delivery cities in Iraq
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.
- General Commission of Customs
- WTO — Tariff Profiles (applied MFN duty by country)
- IPPC — ISPM 15 wood packaging standard
- WCO — Harmonized System nomenclature
- IMO — IMDG Code for dangerous goods by sea
Page data last reviewed: 10 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.
- Home Storage Products Furniture & Home Products
- Exhibition Display Equipment Retail, Display & Commercial Fixtures
- Aluminum Coils Steel & Metal Materials
- Pipe Fittings Metal Products & Industrial Components
- Generators New Energy, Power & Electrical
- Ceramic Tiles Building Materials & Construction Products
- Paper Packaging Wood, Bamboo & Paper Products
- Packaging Materials Plastics, Rubber & Packaging
- Laboratory Furniture Furniture & Home Products
- Fabric Textiles, Apparel, Footwear & Leather
- Salon Furniture Beauty, Personal Care & Wellness
- Sheet Metal Metal Products & Industrial Components
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.
For ocean cargo, restricted commodities move under the IMO's IMDG Code, and the container has to be declared and stowed accordingly. Batteries, flammables and corrosives all have a compliant ocean path; what causes rolled bookings is finding out about them after the container is packed.
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.
How to Calculate CBM in Shipping | Volume vs Weight Explained | CBM Formula & Freight Cost Guide — 10 Min For Supply Chain. 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.
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 →