Decisions from today's session of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina

(Patria) - The Council of Ministers of BiH has determined and will submit to the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH for urgent adoption the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Foreigners, marked EI, which confirms the appropriate alignment with EU regulations in the field of migration.

In this way, four EU regulations/directives adopted between 2016 and 2021 will be transposed in the process of continuous alignment of BiH regulations with EU legal regulations, after BiH adopted the current Law on Foreigners in 2015, which was then aligned with 12 EU regulations/directives in the field of migration.

The amendments to the law also aim to facilitate the stay of digital nomads in BiH, and the intention of the Council of Ministers of BiH is to further extend their stay in BiH, which is why the possibility of amending the law in this direction has been announced.

The amendments to the Law on Foreigners align BiH regulations with EU regulations/directives, and relate, among other things, to the areas of visa issuance, permanent residence, temporary residence of foreigners in BiH based on family reunification, education, scientific research, participation in exchange programs or educational projects, professional practice, volunteering, employment of highly qualified workers, and work based on a blue card, as well as on humanitarian grounds.

At the same time, the amendments to the Law on Foreigners supplement certain provisions to facilitate their application and remove ambiguities in practice.

Bills on Courts of BiH and Organization of the Wine Market Considered

The Council of Ministers of BiH did not express its opinion on the Bill on Courts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Bill on the Organization of the Wine Market in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the adoption of which was agreed at the political level.

Given that certain technical remarks emerged before the session, it was agreed that the Council of Ministers of BiH would address them today or tomorrow, so that these bills could be sent to the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH by the end of the week.

Action Plan for Prevention and Fight Against Terrorism Adopted

The Council of Ministers of BiH adopted the Decision on the Adoption of the Action Plan for the Implementation of the previously adopted Strategy of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the Prevention and Fight Against Terrorism for the period 2021-2026.

The Ministry of Security is obliged to implement activities for the formation of a coordination body for monitoring the implementation of the Action Plan.

The implementation of the Action Plan will take place at all levels of government in accordance with the constitutional and legal powers of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska, and Brčko District of BiH.

This plan contains activities aimed at establishing an effective, coherent, and sustainable mechanism at all levels of government for the prevention of terrorism, violent extremism, and radicalization leading to terrorism, and hate crimes, with the aim of developing society's resilience to these challenges.

Two Million KM to the Fund for Returnees of BiH

The Council of Ministers of BiH adopted the Decision on the reallocation of two million KM from the budget of the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of BiH to the budget of the Fund for Returnees of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This is a reallocation of funds from the grant "Financing of Rights under Annex VII of the Dayton Peace Agreement," and the funds are intended for the realization of projects approved by the Commission for Refugees and Displaced Persons of BiH.

The Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of BiH, the Federal Ministry of Displaced Persons and Refugees, the Republican Secretariat for Displaced Persons and Migration of Republika Srpska, the Government of Brčko District of BiH, and the Fund for Returnees of BiH signed the Agreement on Association and the Method of Realization of Funds for the Exercise of Rights under Annex VII of the Dayton Peace Agreement in 2023.

Second Round of Voting

The Council of Ministers of BiH will decide in the second round of voting on the Proposal of the Decision on the Temporary Ban on the Export of Certain Wood Products, which extends the ban on the export of roundwood from BiH, after consensus was not reached in the first round of voting for its adoption.

Pesticide Residue Control

The Council of Ministers of BiH adopted the Report on the Implementation of the Program for the Control of Pesticide Residues in and on Food of Plant and Animal Origin in Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2022, which was carried out by the Food Safety Agency of BiH in cooperation with competent state, entity, and inspection bodies of Brčko District of BiH.

As part of the Program for the Control (Monitoring) of Pesticide Residues in and on Products of Plant and Animal Origin in 2022, sampling of 16 different products was carried out. These include apples, strawberries, peaches, grape wine, lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, spinach, grain oats, grain barley, cow's milk, lard, and infant and young child food, excluding starter and follow-on formula and processed cereal-based foods for infants and young children, and three national products (pear, plum, and mandarin) were also sampled.

A total of 184 samples were taken: 72 fruit samples, 45 vegetable samples, 22 grain samples, 24 animal-origin food samples, and 21 samples from other food categories, and 28,441 laboratory analyses were performed on these samples.

The results showed that 99 samples (53.8%) did not contain pesticide residues at the quantification level, while 80 samples (43.5%) contained residues at or above the quantification level, but within the maximum permissible level (Maximum Residue Limit, MRL).

Three samples (1.6%) contained pesticide residues above the MRL within the limits of measurement uncertainty, but the samples were considered compliant, while two samples were non-compliant. This means that two out of 184 samples taken, or 1.1%, were not in compliance with the current regulations of BiH.

Protecting BiH's Interests

The Council of Ministers adopted the Report of the Ministry of Civil Affairs on the realization of rights and obligations under the Agreement on the Procurement of Vaccines with the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) against COVID-19, concluded between the Council of Ministers of BiH and GAVI, which manages the Global Access Mechanism for COVID-19 Vaccines (COVAX), with corrected conclusions.

At the session, appropriate conclusions were adopted to guide the negotiation team's work in order to protect the financial interests of Bosnia and Herzegovina during negotiations with GAVI on the return of unused funds after the contract expires on September 17, 2023.

According to the Report, GAVI has partially fulfilled its obligations under the contract concluded with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a total of 332,640 or 27% of the total ordered 1,232,000 COVID-19 vaccines were delivered through its mediation.

State Border Agreement between BiH and Serbia

The Council of Ministers of BiH has tasked the State Border Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina to, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH, renew contact with partners from the Republic of Serbia and continue cooperation on drafting a complete proposal for an agreement on the state border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Serbia.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs will create the technical prerequisites for the work of the State Border Commission of BiH in this regard.

Previously, the Council of Ministers of BiH adopted the Report of the Ministry of Civil Affairs on the activities undertaken so far regarding the demarcation between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Serbia, which will be submitted to the Presidency of BiH.

The last session of the Intergovernmental Diplomatic Commission for the State Border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Serbia was held on May 10, 2010.

We remind that in mid-May 2019, the Protocol on the Determination of the Tripoint Border between Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and the Republic of Serbia was signed, which entered into force in 2020.

Implementation of the Istanbul Convention

The Council of Ministers of BiH took note of the Recommendations of the Committee of the Parties to the Istanbul Convention of the Council of Europe on the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence by Bosnia and Herzegovina (Istanbul Convention).

The Report on Legislative and Other Measures for the Implementation of the Provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence for Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Recommendations of the Committee of the Parties to the Istanbul Convention of the Council of Europe on the Implementation of this Convention in BiH will be submitted to the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, in accordance with Article 70 of the Istanbul Convention.

The Report acknowledges the progress made regarding existing legislative and strategic measures implemented by BiH authorities, including activities undertaken in the area of prevention and combating violence against women and domestic violence.

At the same time, certain initiatives to ensure gender equality, as well as amendments to the legal framework by introducing new criminal offenses in this area at the entity level, were assessed positively.

According to the Information from the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees, the GREVIO report contains 19 urgent measures that require prompt action by the BiH authorities in order to fully comply with the provisions of the Istanbul Convention.

Mapping Responses to Hate Speech in BiH

The Council of Ministers of BiH, at the proposal of the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees, adopted the draft document Mapping Responses to Hate Speech in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a systematic step against discrimination, intolerance, and the suppression of hate speech in BiH.

The Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees will monitor the activities of competent institutions based on the proposal of this document and will prepare a comprehensive report on freedom of speech, freedom of access to information, and the prevention of hate speech by the end of December 2024.

This document was prepared by the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of BiH in partnership with the European Union (EU) and the Council of Europe (CoE) through the project "Promotion of Diversity and Equality in Bosnia and Herzegovina".

The project is implemented within the framework of the joint EU and CoE program "Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey II".

This document provides a comprehensive overview of the situation in BiH and sets out a roadmap and necessary priority measures at the systemic level in the fight against hate speech.

In addition to the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of BiH as competent actors, the document recognizes state, entity, and Brčko District of BiH institutions, including the Institution of the Ombudsman of BiH, the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, courts, prosecutor's offices, ministries of internal affairs and justice, the Communications Regulatory Agency, the Press and Online Media Council, the Central Election Commission of BiH, the Interreligious Council of BiH, gender equality institutions, non-governmental organizations, sports associations, media, and international organizations.

Implementation of the Public Procurement Law

The Council of Ministers of BiH, in the second round of voting, adopted the Rulebook on Financing Research, Development, and Improvement of the Public Procurement System in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was proposed by the Public Procurement Agency in accordance with the Law on Public Procurement.

This rulebook implements the Law on Public Procurement in the part relating to the obligation of the Public Institution and Official Gazette of BiH to invest at least 15% of the revenue generated from the publication of certain notices related to public procurement into research and development and the improvement of the public procurement system in BiH.

Procedure for Appointing the RAK Council Initiated

The Council of Ministers of BiH has determined the Proposal of the Decision on the Establishment of an Ad hoc Commission of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH for the Implementation of the Procedure for Appointing the Council of the Communications Regulatory Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which the Ministry of Communications and Transport will submit to the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH for adoption.

The proposed members of the six-member Commission include Jasmin Imamović, a Member of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, and delegates to the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH Marina Pendeš and Snježana Novaković-Bursać. Three more members of this commission have been appointed from the non-governmental sector: Davorka Topić-Stipić (Croatian Cultural Society Napredak), Goran Krivić (Non-Governmental Organization "Sanus" Prijedor), and Aida Daguda (Center for the Promotion of Civil Society).

The Commission publishes a public call and, after the procedure is completed, determines a list of the 14 most successful candidates, which it submits to the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The mandate of the current composition of the Council of the Communications Regulatory Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina expired at the end of 2017.

Appointments

The Council of Ministers of BiH, based on the Opinion of the Civil Service Agency of BiH, appointed Jovan Šiljo as Deputy Director of the Service for Joint Affairs of Institutions of BiH, as the highest-ranked candidate after the completion of the tender procedure.

At the same time, in accordance with the opinion of the Civil Service Agency of BiH, Sanja Bazina Crnokić was appointed as Deputy Director of the Agency for the Promotion of Foreign Investments of BiH, as the highest-ranked candidate in the public competition procedure.