A round table on the topic “Improving the export of milk and dairy products to the EU market through the control of production and purchase of raw milk in BiH” was held in the premises of the Foreign Trade Chamber of BiH.
Although the dairy industry keeps a positive trend of export in the past couple of years and the export was increased by 12 % (76 million BAM) in comparison to 2016, the increase of exports of UH sterilized milk, cream and fermented beverages by 89 % was noted. These are the products with lower added value, while cheese, butter and dairy spreads make only 11 % of total exports.
The leading export market is still Montenegro, and it is important to note a considerable increase of exports to the Republic of Croatia by a total of 200 %, in comparison to the year of 2016, although it is still insufficient to reach the exports from 2012. We mostly import cheese in the amount of 73 million BAM (52 % of total imports). In the year of 2017, we imported these products in the total amount of 142 million BAM. We mostly import milk and dairy products from Germany, Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia.
Besides representatives of BH dairy industry, representatives of relevant BiH and entity institutions also attended this meeting. Considering the fact that the dairy sector is one of the leading export sectors in the food industry, special attention was given to the improvement of existing products in the domestic market as well as to improvement of our offer of dairy products.
Moreover, they also discussed the problems of a real obstacle to the development of the dairy industry, which mostly include non-existence of reserves, unadjusted tax policy, lack of credit lines of banks in the form of a support to agricultural production, and the lack of non-refundable EU funds. They also emphasized the item of marking animals as essential for the creation of a register and the need for further control of the import of dairy products. Once again, they noted the appeal of a real sector for the adoption of legislation with the aim of further strengthening of the overall system in BiH. They also emphasized the importance of the exchange of information and the joint action of all participants in the chain of the aforementioned branch of industry.
(Source: akta.ba)
