The BiH Administration for the Plant Health Protection, in cooperation with the competent institutions of the entity and the Brčko District of BIH, undertook all activities related to the fulfilment of obligations that must be fulfilled in order to enable the producers of seedlings to export to European Union member states.
TST: Do we know what kind of plants, seeds and fertilizers enter Bosnia and Herzegovina, who supervises it and in what way?
JOVIĆ: The BiH Administration for the Plant Health Protection maintains the Varietal List of BiH and every imported variety must be on that list. In addition, the Administration issues a “D” permit for the import of seeds and thus controls whether the seeds are approved, but also phytosanitary inspectors at the border crossing control the import of seeds and occasionally take samples for quality control, which is prescribed by the regulations on putting into circulation adopted by the Administration. Mineral fertilizers that are imported into BiH must be registered with the Entity Ministries of Agriculture and the Department of Agriculture of the Brčko District of BiH. Importers and distributors of mineral fertilizers must also be registered. Control at border crossings is carried out by phytosanitary inspectors.
TST: What is the volume of trade in herbs for Bosnia and Herzegovina and what herbs are traded, what is imported and from where, and what is exported and where?
JOVIĆ: Trade statistics of plants and plant products are handled by the Agriculture Sector of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH. The competence of the Administration is the phytosanitary aspect of the health of plants, seeds and planting material, breeding rights, plant protection products and mineral fertilizers.
TST: Wooden material is also within your jurisdiction, and there is a lot of talk in the public about the fact that we export healthy logs and timber, and import finished products – is this correct and what is the volume of wood exports, in logs or timber, and from which parts of BiH is the biggest export?
JOVIĆ: The BiH Administration for the Plant Health Protection does not have data on the export of wood, because it is not within our jurisdiction, but we were involved in the decision-making process regarding the ban on the export of forest wood assortments from BiH and the introduction of taxes on the export of beech and oak lumber and firewood, upon the initiative of entity ministries of agriculture, forestry and water management. The main reason was the facts and data that BiH exports a large percentage of logs, boards and firewood of low value due to the low level of processing, while the export of final products is significantly smaller, and that wood processing capacities are twice as large as available logs for processing. Banning exports would significantly improve the provision of wood processors with raw materials, and especially producers of final products, which should be the main goal of this measure. The introduction of the ban on exports and taxes will enable the smooth development of the wood industry in BiH. It is certain that this measure will not be the final solution for the protection of the domestic wood industry, but it will certainly contribute to the improvement and security of supplying the domestic market with wood assortments.
TST: Is the Administration obliged to supervise the felling of the forest and if so – do you do it, in what way, what happens when you determine exaggeration, endangering the plant minimum?
JOVIĆ: For forest and forest land management, responsibilities are at the entity level (FBiH and RS) and Brčko District. Institutions in the two entities and the Brčko District are responsible for the development and implementation of forestry policies and regulations. At all administrative and political levels, forestry is under the jurisdiction of the ministries of agriculture, water management and forestry, in some cases the ministries of economy, while the wood processing industry as the primary wood processing, pulp and paper production in both entities is under the jurisdiction of the ministries of industry, energy and mining.
TST: According to the available information, only products grown in a strictly controlled manner can go to the EU market – how close are we to establishing that strictly controlled way of growing plants, what are the obstacles on the way?
JOVIĆ: At the very beginning, let me emphasize that BiH has no problems when exporting fruits and vegetables to the EU, and exports are carried out regularly. According to the new legislation of the European Union (Regulation (EU) 2016/2031), from December 14, 2019, the EU banned the import of certain planting material from countries that are not its members. A large part of the changes relate to the requirements for import and export, so by-laws will have to be prepared in the near future. The administration, in cooperation with the competent institutions of the entities and Brčko District of BIH, undertook all activities related to the fulfilment of the obligations that must be fulfilled in order to enable the producers of planting material to export to European Union member states, based on the requests of producers who are interested in exporting to the market of the European Union. Producers must take care of the use of phytopharmaceuticals, because a pesticide residue test must be done during export. The use of integral plant protection is an efficient way to apply phytopharmaceuticals when necessary.
TST: Genetically modified organisms are also within your jurisdiction – are there any in BiH, which ones, in what quantities, are they properly labelled on the market and how do you monitor that labelling?
JOVIĆ: The Food Safety Agency of BiH is responsible for GMOs in food. Until now, no GMO reproductive material has been imported, and when registering varieties in the BiH Variety List, a declaration that the seeds are not GMO must be attached.
TST: How often do dangerous chemicals and pesticides in international trade pass through BiH and how is that passage monitored, and have there been any incidents in the last five years?
JOVIĆ: The circulation of dangerous chemicals and pesticides in international trade is carried out in BiH in accordance with the procedures of the convention and the regulations that define this area in BiH, which, among other things, also includes procedures for the registration of chemicals, biocides and plant protection products. Implementation of traffic is carried out according to the principle of granting the consent of the country to which the import is planned, through a state-appointed body – in BiH it is the BiH Administration for the Plant Health Protection. It should be noted that chemicals classified as dangerous may have permitted and registered use with application restrictions, for example in industry, and that the same chemical is prohibited for use as a plant protection agent. In this sense, procedures for obtaining consent from the country into which the chemical is imported are carried out and a consent for the purpose is issued with a restriction on its application, or import is prohibited if the regulations in BiH require so. Market supervision is carried out by the republic inspection, namely the sanitary inspection in the FBiH and the health inspection in the RS. No incidents were recorded in the previous period.
