The Rulebook on Amendments to the Rulebook on Internal Organization in the Indirect Taxation Authority (ITA) was not adopted even at yesterday’s extraordinary session of the Management Board, which was held in Sarajevo, because Zijad Krnjic, a member of the Management Board appointed by the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), voted against it. This means that the Gradiska Border Crossing will still not be put into operation. A roundtable on key problems related to the border crossings of BiH was also held yesterday in Sarajevo.
Ministers of Finance Zora Vidovic and Toni Kraljevic, the Minister of Finance and Treasury of BiH Srdjan Amizic, and Jelena Popovic, a member of the Management Board from the group of experts appointed by the Government of Republika Srpska (RS), voted for the amendments to this rulebook, while Zijad Krnjic, the Management Board member appointed by the Government of the FBiH, was against it.
The newly constructed border crossing in Gradiska is fully equipped according to European standards, but the formal amendment of the rulebook has called into question the start of operations at the busiest crossing toward the European Union(EU), said Srdjan Amidzic, the Chair of the ITA Management Board.
“The number of passengers crossing the border, which up to this day is four million and fifty thousand, more than the number of people living in BiH, and to cut that in half and make it easier for everyone, we need one formal decision in which you raise your hand and say it’s okay. You start setting conditions and turning this into a political story,” says Amidzic.
The Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of BiH, Borjana Kristo, says that the new Gradiška border crossing is being opened as a temporary border crossing and that the institutions will be made available so that it can operate at full capacity.
“At the Council of Ministers of BiH, we received approval, that is, a decision to open a temporary border crossing in Gradiska. The carrier of all activities, technical, organizational, and others, is the ITA,” Kristo said.
Representatives of chambers of commerce in BiH and government institutions at the roundtable held in Sarajevo requested urgent measures to speed up the flow of goods and people, reduce congestion, and prevent major losses for the BiH economy.
“We have only two border crossings with all inspection and sanitary services, and more than 90 percent of goods go through Gradiska, which is the lifeline of the BiH economy,” emphasizes the President of the Foreign Trade Chamber (FTC BiH), Ahmet Egrlic.
“More than 90 percent of goods subject to phytosanitary and veterinary inspection go precisely through Gradiska, which raises concerns and the question of why the Croatian side did not install inspection services during the period when the BiH side did,” states the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH, Stasa Kosarac.
It should be recalled that the new Gradiska border crossing will be ceremonially opened on December 11th, even though it will not be put into operation.
