Committee of the border ports in the Basra Governorate Council on Wednesday expressed concern about the possible negative effects of the Iraqi facilities to Jordan on the activity of southern border ports, especially commercial ports. 

"The Iraqi agreement with Jordan will have negative effects, and we expect the reluctance of some traders and importers to pass goods through the border crossings in Basra and the direction instead of them to the port of Trebil as a result of facilities provided by The agreement, "adding that" the Convention is not unlikely to cause an accidental flow of Israeli goods to Iraqi markets after forging their brands, especially since commercial fraud is a global phenomenon. "


He pointed out that " Iraq needs to establish good relations with neighboring countries and various Arab states, but must be in his interest above all considerations," adding that "the members of the Council of Representatives for the responsibility of Basra to verify the negative effects of the Convention on commercial ports and other border crossings located In the province. " 

For his part, said Professor of Economics at the University of Basra d. Nabil Jaafar al-Marsoumi said in an interview with Alsumaria News that "the new agreements with Jordan include various sectors including transport, industry, agriculture and trade. These include the granting of facilities to Iraqi goods imported through Jordan, giving a 75% discount on handling fees And discharge) charged by the authorities in the Gulf of Aqaba, And some are afraid that this measure will have a negative impact on the volume of foreign trade through Iraqi ports, "noting that" the cost of shipping from China and the UAE to the markets of Basra less than the cost of shipping across the Gulf of Aqaba, and the volume of trade transported through Aqaba is very small compared to To be received by Iraqi ports, and on the other hand, the reduction of handling fees will necessarily lead to the availability of cheap goods in the Iraqi market.

Al-Marsoumi pointed out that "the agreement provided for activation of the previous decision of the Council of Ministers to exempt 393 Jordanian goods from customs duties, and the Iraqi government says that the list includes goods not produced in Iraq, in addition to other goods whose production does not locally cover the need of the market," explaining that " Between Iraq and Jordan is relatively small, not to exceed 400 million dollars annually, Jordan is not a major trading partner of Iraq, and the agreement included a paragraph to review the list of goods exempted every six months based on studies and recommendations by the competent authorities. 

"The southern border ports and commercial ports will be affected very little by the Iraqi-Jordanian agreement because the volume of foreign trade between the two countries is not great," he said.

The agreement between Iraq and Jordan sparked controversy in the political arena, as it was supported by some ministers and leaders of the political blocs, while criticized by members of the House of Representatives, and called on the government to amend them.