Mirko Sarovic, Bosnia’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Photo: Anadolu

Bosnian foodstuff producers are worried after Kosovo imposed a 10-per-cent customs tariff on imports from Bosnia and Serbia this week, citing their hostility towards Kosovo.

The trade balance between the two countries is unequal; the value of Bosnian exports to Kosovo is about ten times larger than Kosovo’s exports to Bosnia.

Bosnia’s Foreign Trade Chamber and the European Commission Trade Website say the country exported goods to Kosovo in 2017 worth some 80 million euros.

The cost of Bosnia’s imports from Kosovo amounted to a paltry 8 million euros.

Graphic: BIRN

Milk and dairy products were among top five Bosnian exports to Kosovo in 2017, earning the country 5.5 million euros, data from the Bosnian Foreign Trade Chamber show. The Kosovo government abolished all import tariffs on milk and dairy products from Bosnia in August this year, as part of CEFTA regulations, which was seen as a boost to Bosnian dairy producers.

After Montenegro, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia, Kosovo is Bosnia’s main export partner for these products, according to Bosnia’s Agency for Statistics.

“A lot of [dairy] producers were relying on the abolished tariffs, but now, with the new tariffs imposed, they will rethink their plans,” Duljko Hasic, an economics analyst from the Foreign Trade Chamber, told BIRN.

Bosnia’s top five export products to Kosovo for the first nine months of 2018 were iron and steel, worth 20 million euros, meat, fish, and shellfish, worth some 5.5 million euros, and diary and poultry, worth 4 million euros.

Wood and wood products like charcoal exported during 2018 were worth 3.5 million euros and electrical machinery and equipment were worth 3 million euros, the Trade Chamber said.

“With the new tariffs imposed on Bosnia and Serbia, other countries like Montenegro or Macedonia could benefit from the Kosovo market, so it is important to find a solution for this situation as soon as possible,” Hasic said.

“We [milk producers] are waiting for next moves from state officials; there is a promise from [Mirko] Sarovic [Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations] that this might be resolved soon. If not, than prices must be reconsidered, which will have negative effects,” Mehmed Niksic, president of the association of milk producers in Bosnia’s Federation entity, told BIRN.

Bosnia and Kosovo have the poorest bilateral relations in the Western Balkans. There are serious barriers to travel and trade between the two countries, mutual visa requirements, coupled with the absence of diplomatic missions in Sarajevo and Pristina.

Kosovo on Tuesday imposed the new tariff on imports from Serbia and Bosnia citing their “negative behaviour” towards Kosovo, even though Kosovo, Bosnia and Serbia are all part of the free trade CEFTA area.

The new CEFTA came into force in 2007 and comprises seven countries, Albania, Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Moldova. The agreement is designed to stimulate economic development and the EU accession agenda in the region.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is the only former Yugoslav republic not to recognise Kosovo other than Serbia, which remains bitterly opposed to Kosovo’s independence, and to its attempts to enter international organisations, claiming that Kosovo remains part of its territory.

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