BOSNIA TO ABOLISH 50% OF CUSTOM DUTIES CHARGED ON PRODUCTS IMPORTED FROM EU

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (April 23,2008) - Temporary agreement between Bosnia and the EU will come into force either in June or July depending on the signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement in April or May.

When temporary trade agreement between Bosnia and the European Union comes into force, the country will lose about 50% of customs duties charged on products imported from the EU countries, confirmed Dragiša Mekić, the chief of the working group for free movement of goods in Bosnia to the team negotiating on the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA). Mekić pointed out that the temporary agreement will come into force right after signing the SAA between Bosnia and the EU.

"When negotiating on the Stabilization and Association Agreement, we wanted to protect the most sensitive products such as meat and milk until the very accession to the EU. This is what we got, but in return we had to abolish customs duties for about 50% of the products we import from the EU, decreasing revenues from the customs duties by 50%. The good thing is that the customs duties will be abolished for production material and raw material which our economy needs," Mekić explained.

The temporary agreement between Bosnia and the EU will come into force either in June or in July depending on the signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement in April or May. The temporary agreement is a part of the SAA, and refers to trade and transport. The agreement will be in force two to three years, the period needed to ratify the SAA between Bosnia and the EU in the European Parliament and the Parliaments of the 27 EU member countries.
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