Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia and Minister of Trade, Tourism, and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajić and Deputy President of the Ministerial Council and Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mirko Šarović, have signed early today, in the Palace of Serbia, the Protocol on removing non-tariff barriers in trade between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The protocol was one of the conclusions of the meeting between Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić with the members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina this year in Sarajevo.

Deputy Prime Minister Mr Ljajić has said that out of 13 barriers in trade between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, seven have been removed that two will be removed by the end of January 2018, and the remaining four remain to be solved.

He has stated that out of the remaining four barriers, the first refers to beer export from Serbia to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the second refers to border crossings Kotroman – Vardište and Ljubovija – Bratunac, the third refers to the preferential treatment in public procurements, and the fourth refers to the temporary export of certain motor vehicles.

Mr Ljajić has said that all these barriers are not classic barriers introduced by one country to another, but they are subject to non-aligned regulations and different interpretation of the regulations or failure to implement the signed protocols.

“Our interest is to have a bigger flow of goods and capital”, says Mr Ljajić, adding that the exchange in goods with Bosnia and Herzegovina is by 200 million euros higher than in the first 10 months last year.

Mr Ljajić has said that meetings are agreed to take place once in three months, to discuss if there are new barriers and to identify mechanism for their elimination.

Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mirko Šarović has said that Serbia is the second most important foreign trade partner of Bosnia and Herzegovina, apart from Germany, adding that next year we expect a growth in trade of the two countries of 14-15 per cent.

“I think we have made an important step towards improving our trade and economic relations, and facilitating trade of the economies of the two countries”, says Mr Šarović.

Mr Šarović has pointed out that the removal of barriers is a constant requirement of the economies of the two countries, stating that the most important thing is to establish mechanisms for barriers to appear in the future.

“This time we removed the barriers which perhaps were the most important disturbing factor in the trade of the two countries, which refer to the export of milk and dairy products from one country to the other, export of chicken mean, fruit, vegetable, raspberries, and import of steel products, and other barriers which were pointed out by businessmen, such as the issues in trade with water, juices”, says Mr Šarović.

He has added that savings achieved by the removal of the barriers will be visible in both countries, which are strongly committed to the improvement of the economic and trade relations.