The Minister of Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Edin Forto, said that the Ministry sent the BiH Council of Ministers a proposal to reduce administrative fees for CEMT multilateral and bilateral permits for international transport, which could bring domestic carriers savings of around one million BAM per year.
Forto stated this after the meeting of the Working Group for the coordination of activities related to the issue of the driver’s stay in the Schengen zone, held today in Sarajevo.
He noted that during the meeting, at least 15 issues requiring coordination of various institutions were considered, and that one of the concrete results was a proposal for a measure that would reduce the costs of issuing bilateral and multilateral, ie CEMT permits, which was previously promised to carriers.
“If the Council of Ministers adopts this decision, we can save our carriers one million KM per year in administrative fees for paying for these permits,” said Forto.
He explained that the CEMT permit currently costs 500 BAM, and it was proposed that its price be reduced to 100 BAM. At the same time, it was also proposed that bilateral permits, which currently cost 250 BAM, be reduced to 100 BAM.
The aim of this proposal, he said, is for the state level of government to provide concrete support to the international road transport sector.
He added that the Ministry is also working on other measures that should help transporters, but that he does not want to talk about them for now until they are fully prepared.
Speaking about the problem of limited stay of professional drivers in the Schengen area countries, Forto pointed out that the new Croatian Law on Foreigners could offer a solution to some of the problems faced by licensed drivers from BiH.
He stated that there are still certain unknowns “on the ground” regarding the implementation of this law, which is why the Ministry will seek to clarify the method of its implementation and deadlines in direct talks with the Croatian Government.
In addition to the proposal to reduce the price of permits, most of the meeting was dedicated to other problems of BiH transporters, most of which, he emphasized, are within the jurisdiction of other levels of government.
Among other things, Forto pointed out that Croatia is currently the only country in the region that has reacted concretely.
He reminded that the agreement with BiH carriers was to put pressure on the member states of the European Union (EU) through the institutions of the European Commission to find a way to solve this problem, after which Croatia took concrete steps.
He announced that talks will be continued with other EU member states, primarily with Germany, the Netherlands and Austria, with the aim of establishing bilateral programs that would facilitate the work of professional drivers from BiH.
Forto also reminded that our country expects the harmonization of legislation within the framework of negotiation chapters 7 and 11, which refer to the field of transport and are among the most demanding in the negotiation process.
“That is precisely why I was appointed to the Council of Ministers, to fight for the opening of negotiations. There are a number of things where we are specifically suffering because we have not initiated negotiations, have not made progress, have not completed negotiations, including issues not only related to transport companies, but also to citizens, such as the EES system that slows down border crossings and creates congestion,” said Forto.
He added that Bosnia and Herzegovina will be in a better position the sooner it begins harmonizing transport legislation with the EU acquis.
Finally, he assessed that Croatia cannot and will not take measures that would be outside the framework of common EU rules, but that the adoption of the Law on Foreigners, which provides for a special program for professional drivers from the region, is a significant and positive step in solving the problem.
The working group consists of representatives of the Council of Ministers of BiH, the Chamber of Foreign Trade of BiH, the Chamber of Commerce of the Federation of BiH, the Chamber of Commerce of the Republika Srpska and the “Logistika” Consortium, with additionally included representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH, the Directorate for European Integration, the Directorate for Indirect Taxation, the Border Police and the Brčko District Chamber of Commerce, who were appointed to the Working Group by the decision of the Council of Ministers of BiH from the session held on March 23.
