Council of Ministers of BiH adopts protocol for signing of SAA

The Council of Ministers of BiH, at an extraordinary session, adopted the Draft Protocol to the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) between the European Communities and their Member States, on the one hand, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the other hand, in order to take into account the accession of Croatia to the European Union (EU).

The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH will submit this draft protocol to the Presidency of BiH for further procedure, and the proposed BiH signatory is the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH, Denis Zvizdić.

By concluding this protocol, which was initialed on July 18 this year, after an agreement was reached and a mutually acceptable solution was found regarding the adaptation of the SAA, the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina is carrying out the remaining activity in the process of considering BiH's application for membership in the EU and obtaining candidate status.

This protocol provides for a technical adjustment of the trade part of the SAA provisions concerning exports from BiH to the EU market and exports from the European Union to BiH, taking into account Croatia's accession to the EU, in order to avoid disrupting bilateral trade. The protocol is based on the mutual interests of both parties and takes into account sensitive product categories in BiH. As of the date of its provisional application, the European Union will automatically introduce trade preferences for exports from BiH to the EU market for certain agricultural products, such as fruits and vegetables.

At the session, the Report on the conduct of negotiations for the conclusion of the Protocol to the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) between the European Communities and their Member States, on the one hand, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the other hand, in order to take into account the accession of Croatia to the European Union, was also adopted.