What is the role of the Foreign Trade and Customs Committee of the BiH Parliament, from which Nikola Špirić withdrew?

SNSD MP in the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nikola Špirić, resigned from the Foreign Trade and Customs Committee of this house. 

Špirić was previously removed from the head of the Committee for Oversight of the Intelligence-Security Agency of BiH due to illegal actions, after which SNSD called on its members to resign from all committees of both houses of the BiH Parliament.

What is the role of the Foreign Trade and Customs Committee of BiH?

The House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament has seven standing committees. Among them is the Committee for Foreign Trade and Customs. This committee considers issues related to: foreign trade policy; international trade agreements; customs policy; tariffs, regulations, and laws in its area; international obligations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as relations with international trade institutions. The committee also considers other issues in the field of foreign trade and customs.

After the Collegium of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina delegates an issue within their jurisdiction to the Committee for consideration, the committee members adopt a joint position regarding the delegated issue after mutual consultations, discussions with experts, the civil sector, etc., which they then forward to the Parliament or other representatives in this house of the BiH Parliament. The Committee's position is not binding for the representatives, but the representatives should rely on the Committee's opinion, as such an opinion should generally be based on expertise. 

The Committee for Foreign Trade and Customs of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament consists of representatives from the same house. The committee has nine members. 

The Chairperson of the Committee for Foreign Trade and Customs of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament is Šemsudin Mehmedović, his deputies are Nenad Lalić and Nikola Lovrinović. The six committee members are Zaim Backović, Mensura Beganović, Safer Demirović, Mirsad Mešić, Miroslav Milovanović, and Nikola Špirić.

The withdrawal of Špirić from this Committee will not jeopardize its work. The Committee can continue to work smoothly even if another SNSD member, Miroslav Milovanović, withdraws from the Committee.

The withdrawal of SNSD representatives from committees in the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina was assessed by the Party of Democratic Progress (PDP) as detrimental to the interests of the BiH entity of Republika Srpska, as, according to the statement, it reduces the number of representatives from RS in the committees' work and increases the possibility of this entity being outvoted.