An Analysis of Iraq's Pre-import Inspection, Testing & Certification Program: A’WOT Analysis

The Pre-import Inspection, Testing and Certification program became an important factor to get a market share in Iraq. Verification of Conformity (VoC) of products before shipment to Iraq was started in May 2011 by Iraqi government. The objectives of this program are; protection of consumers and environment, assurance of conformity, transparency in commercial activities and releasing goods faster at Iraqi customs with the appropriate certificate of conformity. After several months of preparation, today this program is being executed actively for countries all over the world that wants to export in Iraq. In this study, an analysis of Iraq's new pre-import inspection, testing and certification program is tried to determine by A’WOT hybrid multi-criteria method. A’WOT is a combination of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). As a result of this study, possible risks and solutions of the program are pointed out.