Tea Importers in Iraq: Vietnamese Tea, COC and Routes in 2026

In short: Iraq imports tea mainly from India and Sri Lanka; Vietnam shipped 4,755 tons in 2025. Tea for central and southern Iraq needs a COSQC certificate of conformity before shipment. With Hormuz all but closed, expect longer, costlier routings via Umm Qasr or landbridges.

Iraq drinks its tea strong, dark and sweet, from small istikan glasses, and it imports almost all of it. In 2025 Iraq was the largest customer of both India and Sri Lanka, taking about 52.6 million kg of Indian tea and 39.4 million kg of Ceylon tea, and it bought 4,755 tons from Vietnam. This guide is for tea importers in Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region, who are looking at Vietnamese black tea for a blend or a private label: which grades to sample, the COSQC pre-shipment certificate, labels and the routes that still work in 2026, when the Strait of Hormuz is all but closed to shipping.

Checked in October 2026 against COSQC's conformity programme datasheet, Iraqi and Sri Lankan trade reports and shipping advisories. The shipping situation in the Gulf changes weekly: confirm every routing with your forwarder before you book.

Iraq's tea market at a glance

• Size: more than US$200 million of tea imports a year, mostly black tea.
• Main origins in 2025: India (52.6 million kg) and Sri Lanka (39.4 million kg), then the UAE as a re-export hub. Vietnam shipped 4,755 tons worth US$7.5 million, up 50% in value on 2024.
• Taste: strong, dark and sweet, often brewed with cardamom. "Pure Ceylon" has been the reference for decades, and much of the Ceylon tea shipped to the Middle East is low-grown leafy tea.
• Buyers: private importers and packers, more than 30 tea brands in the Kurdistan Region alone, and the Ministry of Trade's State Company for Foodstuff Trading, which buys packed tea for the public ration basket.
• 2026: Vietnamese exports to Iraq fell 54% by volume in January–August 2026, the year the Gulf shipping lanes closed.

Which Vietnamese grades to sample for Iraqi tea

Iraq is one of the main buyers of Vietnamese bulk black tea: in 2023 it ranked among the five largest by volume in UN Comtrade data. We know of no published study that names the grades Iraqi buyers prefer, so we suggest sampling by the cup you need rather than by name:

Indicative prices in October 2026; see our Vietnam tea prices page for the live figures.

For a cardamom tea ready for the shelf, our cardamom black tea is Pekoe flavored with cardamom. Our guide to OPA, OP and Pekoe compares the three whole-leaf grades side by side, and the orthodox black tea guide covers the rest of the range.

A tip from the cupping table: brew the samples the way Iraqi drinkers do, strong and long, and judge them in a clear glass with sugar. A tea that tastes good weak can turn bitter at Iraqi strength, and the colour in the glass sells the tea as much as the taste.

The COSQC certificate of conformity

Food shipped to Iraq outside the Kurdistan Region needs a Certificate of Conformity under the pre-shipment programme of COSQC, Iraq's Central Organization for Standardization and Quality Control. The programme has run since January 2022, and food products, tea included, fall within its scope.

How it works, according to the datasheet of Bureau Veritas, one of the appointed inspection bodies:

1. Before shipment, the exporter or importer applies to an appointed body, such as Bureau Veritas or Intertek, with the final invoice, packing list, transport document and test reports.
2. The body checks the goods against Iraqi standards, using accredited test reports or testing in an ISO 17025 laboratory.
3. It issues the certificate, which is authenticated at the Iraqi border. Inspection on arrival does not replace it.
4. Fees start at US$320 per shipment up to US$80,000 FOB, plus about US$50–100 per container for the border check.

Shipments to a ministry that sets its own specifications are exempt from the programme, which can apply to state ration tenders. Ask your buyer which case applies before the tea is packed, because the certificate has to be arranged while the goods are still in Vietnam.

Kurdistan Region

Food entering the Kurdistan Region, for example through Ibrahim Khalil, is checked under the regional government's own procedure: a certificate of analysis, the invoice and a certificate of origin, with sampling at the border. Kurdish importers confirm the current steps with their own clearing agent.

Labels, standards and duty

• Labels: in Arabic, with the country of origin clearly marked; "EU" is not accepted as an origin, and "Product of Vietnam" is the correct form for our tea. Production and expiry dates must be printed or embossed on prepacked food, not added on stickers.
• Quality: Iraqi standards apply through the conformity certificate. Use ISO 3720, the international black tea standard, as the minimum in the contract, and ask for a test of pesticide residues and heavy metals on the actual lot. In 2024 a stock of ration tea was written off because it failed Iraqi standards, and the state company took its suppliers to court.
• Duty: Cabinet Decision 957, in force from early 2026, rewrote Iraq's whole tariff, placing essential foods generally between 0.5% and 5%. Confirm the rate on the tea line with your broker.

Shipping to Iraq in 2026

Umm Qasr, Iraq's main port, lies inside the Gulf, so Iraq's sea freight from Asia has to pass the Strait of Hormuz. Since March 2026 the strait has been all but closed to commercial shipping, and in mid-October trackers counted only a handful of transits a day against about 85 before the crisis. What still works:

• Direct calls at Umm Qasr, which did continue: the North Port handled 80 vessels in June 2026, including a large container ship direct from China. Space and insurance cost far more than before.
• Landbridges: major carriers have routed Iraq cargo through ports outside the strait, such as Salalah in Oman, Khor Fakkan in the UAE or Aqaba in Jordan, with the last leg by road.
• Through Türkiye and Jordan for the north: Kurdish tea traders moved to Mersin and Aqaba.

For a buyer this means three things. Price the tea FOB Hai Phong and buy the freight separately, so you can switch routes. Allow for a longer and less certain transit time than before 2026. And agree in the contract who bears the extra cost if the carrier changes the routing after loading.

Payment

Iraqi banks now pay for imports through correspondent banks abroad, after the Central Bank of Iraq closed its electronic dollar platform at the end of 2024, and Iraqi banks can fund those accounts in dollars and several other currencies. A letter of credit at sight or payment against documents, agreed in the proforma invoice, protects both sides. During the Gulf crisis some exporters to the region have reported delayed payments, which is one more reason to fix the terms before production starts.

Frequently asked questions

Where does Iraq import tea from? Mainly from India and Sri Lanka, for which Iraq was the largest customer in 2025, and through the UAE. Vietnam supplied 4,755 tons in 2025.

Do I need a COC to ship tea to Iraq? Yes, for shipments to central and southern Iraq under the COSQC programme, unless the shipment goes to a ministry with its own specifications. The Kurdistan Region has its own border checks.

Can Vietnamese tea be labeled "Pure Ceylon"? No. The label must state the true country of origin. A blend of Ceylon and Vietnamese tea must not be sold as pure Ceylon tea.

Which Vietnamese tea is closest to Ceylon tea for Iraq? Our whole-leaf orthodox grades, OPA, OP and Pekoe, are the closest in style to the leafy Ceylon teas used in the Middle East. Taste them at Iraqi strength next to your current tea before you decide.

Is shipping from Vietnam to Iraq possible in 2026? Yes, but with longer and costlier routings because of the Hormuz crisis: direct calls at Umm Qasr where available, or landbridges through Oman, the UAE's east coast, Jordan or Türkiye.

Ask us for samples for the Iraqi market

Goo Farm Tea Vietnam makes orthodox and CTC black tea and green tea at factories in Phu Tho and Yen Bai; the Yen Bai factory is ISO 22000:2018 certified. Tell us the tea you blend today, the quantity, your port or border crossing, and whether you need a COC, and we will send samples with an indicative quotation. Contact us.

Sources

• Bureau Veritas, Iraq VOC programme datasheet, Rev. 6.7, May 2024.
• US International Trade Administration, Iraq: labeling and marking requirements, 2021.
• Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka), Sri Lanka's tea exports cross US$1.5bn mark in 2025, 23 January 2026.
• The Statesman via Asia News Network, India records highest ever tea exports in 2025, 11 February 2026.
• Channel8, report on tea imports and prices in the Kurdistan Region, 21 May 2026.
• Shafaq News, Explainer: Iraq's updated customs tariffs, 2026; Shipping traffic jumps at Iraq's Umm Qasr North Port, 30 June 2026; CBI sales surpass $80 billion in 2024 as electronic platform ends, 15 January 2025.
• Iraq Ministry of Foreign Affairs, statement of the Ministerial Council for Economy, 14 October 2024.
• Straits.live, Strait of Hormuz brief, 27 October 2026.
• Maersk, Middle East vessel contingency updates, March 2026.
• World Bank WITS, Viet Nam exports of bulk black tea, HS 090240, 2023.
• Vietnam Customs, exports by country and main commodity, December 2025 and August 2026.