Croatia increased fees for the import of fruit and vegetables imported from third countries, among which is Bosnia and Herzegovina, by 22 times. According to the new prices, instead of 90 kunas (12 Euro), the fee will now be 2,000 kunas (270 Euro).
The Croatian side justified its decision by citing that “they’ve had enough of going down each and every EU requirement and not protecting their agriculturalists.” Croatia expanded the list of fruits and vegetables which have to be subject to undergo phytosanitary inspections at the border if it’s coming from non-EU countries.
As a response to these non-tariff trade barriers for agricultural goods, a summit of representatives of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Montenegro will be held in Sarajevo on Monday, according to anonymous sources.
Bruno Bojić, the president of the Foreign Trade Chamber of BiH, commented the new situation for N1. He said that this information is worrisome for the BiH economy, especially for producers of fruits and vegetables which are very unhappy about this measure.
“These measures aren’t in the spirit and form of the Stabilization and Accession Agreement. As a result of those measures, BiH, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Kosovo have sent a letter to the European Commission, namely to the general director for trade matters, in which we’re seeking for this incorrect behavior of those creating these rules to be halted. We sent that joint letter this morning. We believe we will achieve something,” Bojić said for N1.
source: N1
