No more trade privileges for B&H. Starting from today, the EU will start custom duties on certain products from our country, because B&H authorities did not adjust the Stabilization and Association Agreement between B&H and the EU. Negotiations on the adaptation should start this month.
Unilateral measures regarding the duty-free export to the EU are not extended to B&H. Thus, for certain products – such as tomatoes, cucumbers, table grapes, apples, pears, apricots, nectarines, cherries and plums – EU will start charging part of the duties.
“If they introduce some average tariffs about 8.5%, our products would be charged for 4 million and 700,000 BAM – they would have to pay duties, and that means that our products would not have any competition in the European market,” said Momir Tosic, director of the macroeconomic system in Foreign Trade Chamber of B&H.
Message from the EU Delegation is clear. Jasmila Milovic-Halilovic, spokesperson of the EU Delegation in B&H, the European Parliament decided to renew the so-called autonomous trade measures or trade preferences that EU gives unilaterally to the countries of the Western Balkans after 2015, but these measure will be suspended for B&H until the adjustment of the SAA.
(Source: akta.ba)