Croatia non-EU trade fees row
Last month EU-member Croatia raised its fees for phytosanitary controls -- agricultural checks for pests and viruses ?— on fruits and vegetables at its borders to 2,000 kuna (€275) from 90 kuna.
It cited compliance with EU standards and protection of its consumers.
But ministers from EU candidates Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro, as well as from fellow EU aspirant Bosnia, said the move violated their respective pre-accession agreements with the bloc under which they were guaranteed equal access to markets.
“These measures are absolutely protectionist in an economic sense. They are populist in political sense and cannot be justified, They are (not) in the spirit of good neighbourly relations,” Serbian Trade Minister Rasim Ljajic told reporters after meeting his Balkan counterparts in Sarajevo.
The ministers from the four countries called on Croatia to withdraw its decision and invited the European Commission to get involved to solve an issue they said violated the free trade principles.
They also asked for an urgent meeting with the Croatian agriculture minister. However, until the issue has been resolved, each country will take counter-measures it considered adequate to protect its own economic interests, they said.
Mr Ljajic said that Serbia has already stepped up phytosanitary controls on all organic produce from Croatia and will increase them further. This means that goods, including meat and dairy products, could be held up at borders from 15 to 30 days.
“Our goal is not to wage any kind of economic war but to protect our economic interests and the free flow of goods,” he said.
Macedonia and Montenegro said they would file complaints to the World Trade Organisation, of which they are members, and seek mechanisms through the body for compensation from Croatia, which raised import fees at a peak of the high season for export of fruits and vegetables from their countries.
Relations remain strained between the two former Yugoslav countries and bitter foes during the Balkan wars of the 1990s, despite improvements in investments, the flow of people and capital.
