Returning "traditional trade" is a continuation of plundering BiH

One of the conditions for Bosnia and Herzegovina's application for European Union membership is the alleged continuation of respecting the part of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) on free trade of our country with Croatia, writes the Patria News Agency.

The Foreign Trade Chamber of BiH has already calculated that "traditional trade of BiH with Croatia", solely based on customs duties and VAT, will cost BiH around 45 million KM annually. There are a number of additional problems that will return with this imposed traditional trade.

The worst part is that precisely these days, with the pushing of the "traditional trade" narrative, Croatia's verbal support for Bosnia and Herzegovina's path to the European Union is also coming. This is an old story where the applause of neighbors sounds like slaps in the face to us. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, they consider this another imposed robbery of this country.

Imports without customs duties and taxes

Traditional trade involves the import of over 200 products from Croatia into BiH without customs duties. This is approximately 1,500 tons of products that will enter Bosnia and Herzegovina from the Republic of Croatia without any obstacles.

One of the consequences will be the stifling of domestic production due to increased imports without customs duties and taxes, and there will also be a reduction in employment and an increase in the foreign trade deficit.

The damage to our fruit and vegetable growers due to enormous imports will be considerable. The direct damage from duty-free imports, along with all additional damages, will reach close to 200 million KM.

Strange standards for BiH in the European Union

In the "Analysis of the effects of BiH's return to "traditional trade"", conducted by the Foreign Trade Chamber of BiH, it is stated that there was a noticeable drop in imports from Croatia in 2014 compared to 2012. However, during the same period, state revenues from customs duty calculations were noticeably higher. Tomorrow, that trend will reverse.

With Croatia's entry into the EU, the preferential customs treatment between BiH and Croatia should have ceased to apply. The revival of the protocol with the interim agreement on the SAA's "traditional trade" principle, which BiH and Croatia had before the neighbor's entry into the EU, is causing great damage to BiH.

Therefore, the alleged "traditional trade" was accepted as a condition for the application, at Croatia's request. It is definitively clear that our neighbors do not accept BiH as an equal, but on the contrary, they want to seize even more value from this country in every possible way. It is terrible that abuses are being accepted on Bosnia's path to the European Union. BiH wants to join the EU sincerely and at any cost. And that, unfortunately, serves some for continued blackmail.