SECURUS Consults with the Government of Iraq on Strategic Trade Management

From May 15 to 18, 2023, SECURUS Strategic Trade Solutions consulted with officials of the Government of Iraq on ways to enhance Iraq’s strategic trade management system. The consultations occurred at the Cyprus Center for Land, Open-seas and Port Security (CYCLOPS) facility in Larnaca, Cyprus.

The consultations were funded by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation Office of Export Control Cooperation (ISN/ECC) under the auspices of the Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) Program.

Strategic trade management is the effort by governments to regulate, oversee, and enforce controls on trade in goods, technologies, and software with strategic implications for foreign policy, national security, international commitments, and nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and conventional arms. Strategic trade management focuses primarily on trade in dual-use materials, equipment, technologies, and software (civilian, commercial items with WMD or conventional military applications) as well as trade in conventional arms and related military items.

A SECURUS team that included nonproliferation and strategic trade management subject-matter experts Lara Howe Stenberg and Richard Glen Young consulted with Iraq government officials on:

• Fundamentals of strategic trade management;

• Strategic trade licensing best practices;

• National control lists;

• Strategic commodity classification;

• Assessing risk and sanctions implications in license applications; and

• Interagency cooperation and information sharing.

The officials provided insight into Iraq’s existing trade control laws, regulations, and practices, and there were extensive discussions of regulations and licensing practices in the United States, U.S. customs procedures and inspections of goods at the border, interagency dialogue, and appeals processes in cases of license denials.

The consultations laid an important foundation for future engagements on strategic trade management in Iraq.

SECURUS appreciated the opportunity to meet with Iraqi colleagues and the important contributions of the attendees. SECURUS is grateful to the Government of Iraq for its participation in the activity, to the CYCLOPS facility for hosting the event, and to the U.S. Department of State-coordinated EXBS Program for funding, helping to organize, and supporting the consultations.

Author: Richard Glen Young, Richard.Young@SECURUSTrade.com, August 31, 2023