Selling pork is not a crime under Iraqi law, legal expert says

Pork meat pig animal food — Pork meat. Photo: Creative Commons/Julia Filirovska/pexels

Pork sales legal in Iraq, expert says

BAGHDAD,— Legal expert and lawyer Habib Al-Quraishi said Iraqi legislation contains no provision making the sale of pork itself a criminal offense.

He said a religious prohibition under Islamic Sharia does not automatically make an act a crime unless the Penal Code expressly defines it as such.

In a legal clarification published by Alsumaria News, Al-Quraishi said selling pork while knowing its nature is not a crime under Iraqi law.

He said regulations permit the production and marketing of pork for non-Muslims, provided the product is clearly identified on its packaging and at the point of sale.

He said selling pork while falsely presenting it as sheep or beef constitutes commercial fraud.

Pigs animal pork — Photo: Creative Commons/Mark Stebnicki/pexels

The offense falls under Article 467 of Penal Code No. 111 of 1969, which covers deception concerning the nature, type or essential characteristics of goods.

Al-Quraishi also cited the Animal Slaughter Regulation Law No. 22 of 1972 and Food Regulations No. 29 of 1985.

Those laws regulate the import, possession, transportation and sale of food products and prohibit the distribution of food that is spoiled, adulterated or improperly labeled. Penalties can include imprisonment, closure of a business and cancellation of a professional license.

He said Decision No. 146 of 1998, issued by the dissolved Revolutionary Command Council, cannot be relied upon because it does not mention pork and requires the product to be unfit for human consumption.

He added that Instruction No. (1) of 1988 remains in force and establishes health and technical requirements for raising and handling pigs because no legislation after 2003 repealed or replaced it.

Man Arrested Selling Boar Meat as Beef in Najaf

Butcher was arrest for selling pork meat Najaf Iraq Sep 2026 — A butcher was arrest in Najaf in southern Iraq for selling pork meat, September 2026. Photo: Screengrab/video/SM/via iKurd net

The clarification followed a Sept. 9, 2026, incident in Najaf. A security source said authorities arrested a person accused of hunting wild boars and selling their meat to citizens and restaurants as “minced meat” for financial gain.

The suspect was found with several pigs and quantities of meat prepared for mincing and distribution.

Authorities confiscated the seized items and referred the suspect to judicial authorities for legal action.

Iraq Imported $808,000 in Pork in 2022, Report Says

In 2025, Iraq imported pork worth one billion Iraqi dinars, the Asbar Center for Information Verification said.

The center addressed a social media post claiming Iraq had imported pork worth $808,000, or more than one billion Iraqi dinars, and ranked 141st globally in pork imports.

The Global Observatory of Economic Complexity reported that in 2022 Iraq imported pork worth $765,000 from the Netherlands, $24,000 from South Korea, $13,000 from Germany and $7,000 from the United States.

The center said Iraq’s Christian community, along with foreign companies that require pork for their services or products, makes such imports normal.

An Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights report from March 2021 estimated that about 250,000 Christians remained in Iraq, compared with 1.5 million before 2003.

Reports also indicate that Iraq receives about 30 applications each month to register foreign companies and 500 applications from local companies.

The Observatory of Economic Complexity has not published recent statistics on pork imports into Iraq.

The center said reports about Iraqi pork imports are old and reflect the needs of the local market and foreign services.

Analyst Henase Karim told iKurd News that pork consumption is not limited to Christians, saying many Muslim Kurds also eat pork and do not hold such a radical view.

Islam forbids Muslims from eating pork, a rule stated in the Quran, which calls pig meat impure. The ban covers all pig products, including fat and gelatin.