The Cabinet held its regular meeting on Tuesday under the chairmanship of  Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi.

At the start of the meeting, the Cabinet congratulated teachers and educators on the occasion of Iraqi Teacher’s Day.

The Prime Minister described teachers as the embodiment of giving and sacrifice, who play a critical role in forgoing the national identity of Iraq.

The Prime Minister said that the government is building one thousand schools as part of the Iraq-China agreement.

The Prime Minister then briefed the Cabinet on the latest developments and renewed his call for political parties to live up to the responsibility of forming a strong and effective government that provides services to citizens and support economic growth in the country.

On security, the Prime Minister praised the great efforts of the security forces of all formations, and their successes over the past few days in eliminating and arresting several Daesh terrorists.

The Cabinet then discussed a report submitted by the committee in charge of implementing the order of the Prime Minister in relation to improving the ration card system and discussed proposals to enhance its effectiveness in serving the intended beneficiaries.

The Cabinet received a briefing from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Fouad Hussein, on the conditions of the Iraqi community in Ukraine, and the steps being taken to support them, including evacuating them to other countries in preparation to returning them to Iraq

The Cabinet agreed to provide an additional 300,000 USD to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to support its efforts in this regard.

The Cabinet hosted senior staff of the Ministry of Electricity to discuss preparations for the upcoming summer season.

The Cabinet also hosted the Director of the Border Crossings Authority, Major General Omar Al-Waeli.

Following discussions, the Cabinet approved the following measures in relation to border crossings in Iraq:

• All ministries, the National Investment Commission, agencies not associated with a ministry and local authorities must specify the quantities and quality of the goods to be exempted from duty in coordination provided that the goods meet the actual needs of projects and are for the purpose for which projects were established.

• All ministries, the National Investment Commission, agencies not associated with a ministry and local authorities must ensure that exempted goods reach the intended beneficiaries only, and do not leak into the market or be used for other than the purpose for which they are imported.

• The Ministry of the Interior and its related regulatory agencies to take the necessary measures to monitor and control the exempted goods traded in the local market and take legal action against entities that sell and divert those goods from their intended purpose.

• The General Directorate of Customs – the Department of Investigation and Combating Smuggling to follow up on the exempted materials in coordination with customs centres at border crossing points to ensure that they reach their intended beneficiaries and do not leak to the local markets.

The Cabinet also discussed several other items on its agenda, including the latest health developments, the ongoing measures to contain the spread of the Coronavirus and the efforts to provide the necessary treatment and anti Covid-19 vaccines throughout Iraq.