🇮🇶How to verify a supplier in Iraq

Registry

Companies Registration Department (dairat tasjeel al sharikat), Ministry of Trade, plus the separate KRG company registration in Kurdistan

Company ID

commercial registration number and chamber membership ID

Cost

Free basic lookup

Active status

Treat an Iraqi company as verified only on fresh documents: the registration certificate (shahadat al ta'sees), a chamber of commerce membership card valid for the current year with its class grade (1 to 4 or mumtaz meaning excellent), and above all a tax clearance letter (bara'at thimma dhareebiya), which a dead or shell company cannot obtain. Also run the free Ministry of Planning blacklist search (blacklist.mop.gov.iq): it names companies barred from or delayed on government contracts, with the reason, the responsible manager and the dates.

• Kurdistan (Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok) runs its own registration under the KRG Ministry of Trade and Industry: the digital portal business.digital.gov.krd issues a 14-digit Unique Entity Number (UEN) but has no confirmed public lookup of registered companies. Two KRG surfaces ARE public: the Erbil Chamber of Commerce company directory (erbilchamber.org/ar/companies.aspx, searchable by Arabic name with activity descriptions) and the KRG Approved Suppliers Center list (asc.gov.krd/supplier-list, several hundred vetted suppliers with legal form, address, ISIC activity codes, certificates and approval validity). Business practice differs too: 100 percent foreign ownership is allowed in Kurdistan and procedures are lighter than in Baghdad or Basra, where a local sponsor and agent are effectively required.
• A claimed manufacturer can be cross-checked on the Ministry of Industry's Iraqi Industrial Platform (iip.industry.gov.iq), including its Made in Iraq product bank and the ministry's trademark database; listed companies are searchable at the Iraqi Securities Commission (isc.gov.iq/companies) together with disclosure and suspension decisions.
• Free OSINT cross-check: Dalil Iraq (daliliraq.com), a private English and Arabic business directory with several thousand Iraqi companies. Presence there is not government proof, but it confirms a company exists and is known; the Baghdad chamber (bcc.iq) publishes no open member register.
• Payments are the real risk filter: Iraq is heavily cash based and informal transfers through hawala exchange houses are common, which most foreign compliance cannot accept. Insist on a bank transfer through a bank with working correspondent relationships (the Trade Bank of Iraq is the usual route) and treat a supplier who can only take cash or hawala as unbankable.
• Iraqi buyers themselves do not trust websites: reliability is proven by a physical visit to the warehouse or factory, a bank letter, and the owner's standing in the local business community. For any serious order, commission an in-country inspection; exhibitor lists of the Baghdad and Erbil international fairs are the most reliable free lists of real active producers.

Before you sign: five asks no registry can answer

The register proves the company exists and who signs. It says nothing about whether the supplier survives a bad quarter, a fire or a key person leaving. Serious suppliers answer these five asks without friction; hesitation on any of them is information too.

• Business continuity: what happens to your order if their plant loses power, a strike hits or their systems go down? Ask for the plan, not a reassurance.
• Liability insurance: is product or professional liability insured, with which insurer and to what ceiling? A certificate of insurance is a one-page email for a real firm.
• Exit terms: how do you terminate if it goes wrong, what notice and fees apply, and how do you get your tooling, molds or data back?
• Support in numbers: ask for response and resolution times as figures, not adjectives. A supplier who commits to hours in writing has a support process; one who writes fast support does not.
• Named people: who exactly runs production and who owns your account? Continuity of a named team matters more than a polished sales deck, and employee-review sites often show whether that team stays.

General commercial hygiene, not legal advice.