A Dutch court has handed out 1.3 million euros ($A2.13 million) in fines to seven companies for paying bribes to Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq over the United Nations' oil-for-food deal.

"It was revealed that the companies were paying 10 per cent of the value of the contract in the form of an after-sales service," the court in The Hague said in a statement.

"The 10 per cent was paid directly to the Iraqi regime under another name specified in the contract, or outside of the contract," it said. It described the transactions made by the Dutch firms as "bribes."

The United Nations Oil-for-Food program ran from 1996 until 2003, when US-led forces invaded Iraq.

It allowed Baghdad to sell oil in exchange for humanitarian goods, which the country lacked because of tight UN sanctions imposed after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

According to the Volcker report, published in October 2005, Saddam's government embezzled $US1.8 billion ($A1.85 billion) from the scheme.

The scandal over the fraud surrounding the oil-for-food deal has been a major embarrassment to the UN.

The highest fine imposed in The Hague on Tuesday was to Organon - a former pharmaceutical division of chemical group Akzo Nobel, now owned by the US firm Schering Plough - for 380,602 euros ($A623,886).

Despite the fact the bribes were necessary for securing contracts, the companies involved had not sought authorisation from the Dutch finance or foreign affairs ministries, said the court.

Over and above the fines imposed, the court indicated it also planned to recover the profits the companies made on the improper deals.