Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia and Minister of Trade, Tourism, and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajić has said early today in Sarajevo that nobody wants a trade war, but that the countries of the region will be forced to take countermeasures if the issue of raising the Croatian tax for phytosanitary inspection is not solved before the next meeting to be held by the end of the week.

“We made an appeal today to the official institutions of Croatia to consider their decision, which we defined discriminatory. We have received no replies, no letter no postcard, nothing, we have received a rather insulting explanation of the decision. We started applying certain types of sanitary and veterinary controls, which we are going to make even stricter”, explain Mr Ljajić after the meeting of the ministers of trade of the countries of the region regarding the Croatian measures. He has added that we have the right to do that in line with the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTD).

“We are not raising the price of the control, but we do have the right to implement measures which are in line with the Stabilisation and Accession Agreement which pose a serious warning that these measures must be withdrawn, and reconsidered”, Mr Ljajić has said.

He has added that if we start with the countermeasures, the damage will hit the entrepreneurs of both countries, but the consumers as well.

“We don’t need this, but we are forced to make some actions because we are under great public pressure, and consumers as well. Around 160 entrepreneurs from Serbia export fruit and vegetables to Croatia, and some started returning their trucks since they can’t put up with the competition”, says Mr Ljajić at the press conference.

He has warned that there is an entire mechanism developed for further measures for protection of economic interests.

Minister has explained that the phytosanitary veterinary controls is standardly taken for randomly selected samples, and in some cases the countries can undertake measures of stricter control for all goods of animal and herbal origin, which is being done now. Therefore, as he has stressed, we do not breach the WTO rules, not principles of free trade.

“From now on, we want to control absolutely every single shipment of fruit, vegetables, milk, and meat products from Croatia. We are not happy for that, however, we are forced to take such measures”, Mr Ljajić has underlined.

He has reminded that Serbia has stressed several times recently that the Croatian measures are economically protective in character, but politically they are populistic and cannot be justified by economic or trade logics.

“Those measures are not in the spirit of good neighbouring relations, nor a step towards the creation of a free trade of the Western Balkan counties , we tend to make”, Mr Ljajić has warned.
He has said that in the past three weeks, since the measures entered into force, there have been various explanations.

“The first week we were told that the measures are nothing new, but that they are only an alignment with the prices applicable in the EU, that they are actually nothing else but the alignment which exists in some EU Member States. We have proven that this is not true and we presented the correct information. In Germany, the prices for the same control are € 22, plus 0.84 cents for every second ton, and in other countries they are €17.5, in Bulgaria €17, in Great Britain €41 for an hour control, which is the time enough for the control of two trucks of 25 tons”, Mr Ljajić has explained.

He has estimated that, when it comes to the Croatian measure, it is a drastic increase of prices for fruit and vegetables to €270.

“It means that the trucks are forced to go back, since if you have three types of fruit you need to pay €270 three times. There is no exporter who can put up with that competition. All export going through Croatia to the EU is subject to a similar “taxation”.it is clear that this makes an obstacle to the free flow of goods”, Mr Ljajić has stated.

As he has reminded, an explanation was received in the second week that it is not about the protection of the manufacturers but of the consumers. He has pointed out that the tax for Croatian manufacturers is HRK 90, while for those outside of the EU is HRK 2.000, which means that the consumers will pay substantially higher prices for products, since they have no competition, which is why it is not true that all this is because of the protection of consumers, but the protection of manufacturers.

Mr Ljajić has reminded that there were several protests of farmers in Croatia due to a significant deficit in the exchange with the world, asking for protective measures adopted in a wrong way.
According to his words, the third explanation was received yesterday “which is insulting, degrading and insults the common sense”, according to which the measure was introduced not against the countries of the region, but against 164 world countries which are not members of the EU.

Mr Ljajić has said that, if we take a look at the import of Croatia from third countries it is clear that the countries from the region are those which are hit by the new rulebook.

“We don’t want a trade war here. This meeting has the aim to protect our economic interests and enable a free flow of goods. We don’t want to start with the spiral of measures and countermeasures, but we are forced to do so unless this issue is not solved in the next meeting to be held by the end of the week”, he concluded.