In Sarajevo, a meeting between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo delegations officially started. At the meeting, delegations will talk on ruling on Kosovo imposed 100 percent tax on goods from BiH.
Beside the officials of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH and the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Kosovo, representatives of CEFTA are also present. Also, a representative of the Albanian Ministry of Finance is also present at the meeting.
On 21st November, Kosovo imposed a 100% tariff on all goods produced in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, increasing the 10% tariffs that were imposed on 6th November. The tariffs contradict the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) of which all three territories are signatories. Kosovo has issued similar tariffs before and regularly claims that its products are not treated equally in other CEFTA members’ markets, but it is also seeking to use tariffs for political purposes.
The export of goods from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to Kosovo is almost completely blocked after introducing an additional 100 percent tax, said General Director of Kosovo Customs Bahri Berisa.
Berisa says that goods mostly from Serbia, then from Germany, Turkey, Italy, China and, finally, Albania, were on the market of Kosovo.
He notes that the one-month period was short to enter into new contracts for the supply of goods that would replace the goods from Serbia and BiH on the Kosovo market.
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has been damaged by 4.5 million U.S. dollars since Kosovo government introduced taxes on products from BiH, Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH Mirko Sarovic said for Klix.ba news portal.
