585 Commercial Violations in 7 Months; Relative Market Stability Confirmed

The Ministry of Trade has announced the registration of 585 diverse commercial violations during the first seven months of the current year, while simultaneously confirming relative stability in local markets despite observing shortages of some materials. Riyad Al-Musawi, Director General of the Commercial and Financial Oversight Department at the Ministry, clarified that these enforcement actions, conducted in Baghdad and the governorates from the beginning of the year until the end of July, included 114 cases related to expired goods, 72 cases of prohibited materials, 249 cases of price gouging, in addition to 35 cases of commercial fraud and 115 work violations. Al-Musawi explained that commercial fraud involves repackaging materials from the public rationing system or food basket into new containers with new brand labels to sell them as imported products, such as rice, lentils, and other legumes. He reported that 541 individuals involved in these violations were apprehended with the support of security agencies, noting that these operations contributed to market stability or, at the very least, to understanding the prices of available goods. Al-Musawi also pointed out that recent reports indicated a shortage of some materials in the market, including items from the public rationing system like rice in certain governorates due to insufficient distribution, as well as a scarcity of some imported goods. Nevertheless, Al-Musawi affirmed that daily monitoring and statistics conducted by the department show oversight by relevant authorities over the market, which has become relatively stable.