Croatia expanded the list of fruits and vegetables that have to undergo sanitation monitoring at the border, if they’re coming from a country that isn’t a member state of the European Union, among them Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. New fees for those goods are now 22 times higher than the current one. Serbia has announced its intention to complain to the European Commission, while there has been no reaction from BiH.
Instead of 90 kunas or 12 Euro, the fees will now be 2,000 kuna or 270 Euro, so it’s clear to what extent these new measures will make exporting to Croatia more difficult.
Increased fees could now force exporters to increase the price of their goods, so goods from Croatia and the EU would have an advantage. This decision by Croatia won’t be unanswered. Each shipment of fruits and vegetables will be checked individually, the Croatian government says.
“We don’t want any trade conflict with Croatia, we’re seeking bilateral talks with them about the measure they’ve introduced. We don’t want to reciprocate and enter a conflict like the one we had two years ago, which isn’t in the interest of businessmen either in Croatia or here in Serbia. We’re ready to go to Zagreb tomorrow if there’s a minimal will to discuss before we react with reciprocal measures,” Ljajic said.
Veljko Odalovic, the secretary general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has a similar opinion and highlights that it’s in the best interest of both parties to seek out a compromise.
“I don’t want Serbia or Serbian businessmen to be in a bad situation because of this,” Odalovic says.
The Business Chamber of Serbia is worried about exactly that, as well as the other neighboring states with which they’re preparing a joint document to send to the Croatian government.
(Source: N1)
