Košarac organized a meeting on supporting domestic businesses through exports to new markets

(Patria) - Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH Staša Košarac organized a working meeting today on supporting and assisting domestic economic capacities, with a focus on mitigating the negative effects of the coronavirus epidemic and protecting domestic production.

The working meeting was attended via video link by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of Republika Srpska Boris Pašalić with advisor Zoran Maletić, Assistant Federal Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management for Rural Development and Agricultural Advisory Services Nijaz Brković, Head of the Department for Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management in the Government of Brčko District Perica Burgić, and Director of the Veterinary Office of BiH Ljubomir Kalaba.

The meeting discussed the abolition of vaccination against classical swine fever, which is a condition for the continuation of pork exports to North Macedonia. The interlocutors agreed that the Veterinary Office of BiH will carry out zoning and inform the Macedonian side that Republika Srpska has completed its part of the work and that Brčko District will complete this process by May 1st of this year. This will enable agricultural producers from Republika Srpska and Brčko District to export pork to the Macedonian market. Regarding exports from the Federation of BiH, it was emphasized that the Veterinary Office of BiH, in coordination with the competent federal ministry, will resolve the issue of the emergency measures plan within the next 15 days, in order to enable farmers from this entity to export pork to North Macedonia.

At the request of the competent entity ministries, the issue of animal vaccination against brucellosis and the lack of vaccine doses was discussed at today's working meeting. Minister Košarac said that in the coming period, he will seek assistance from the Embassy of Sweden in BiH to secure the necessary 200,000 doses of brucellosis vaccine through the SIDA agency, as financial resources for this purpose are expected from the European Commission in the fourth quarter of this year. 

In order to help domestic economic capacities, the issue of production surpluses and their placement on third-country markets was also discussed today. In this context, Minister Košarac announced that he will soon talk with representatives of the EU Delegation to BiH about the possibility of BiH using the port of Ploče for exporting live cattle to third-country markets.

Regarding the possibility of exporting to the EU and Chinese markets, Minister Košarac was informed that Republika Srpska has completed the questionnaire for exporting meat to EU member states and China, and that the Federation of BiH will take the same steps in the coming period. After the analysis of the questionnaires from both entities, it was agreed that the Veterinary Office of BiH will contact the European Commission and the Chinese side with requests to allow meat exports from BiH. Minister Košarac said that he will inform the EU Delegation to BiH and the Chinese side about this issue, and will seek the possibility for the competent institutions to give consent so that meat produced in Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH can be found on the EU and Chinese markets.