Deputy Prime Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Federal Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Jerko Ivanković-Lijanović took part in the meeting on foreign trade with the most important domestic producers exporting to the EU and the Republic of Croatia, organized by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH on March 23, 2012 in Bijelijna.

The participants discussed the implications of Croatia's accession to the EU on domestic producers who export to Croatia, while exploring ways to alleviate the consequences of impending export challenges.  

Discussing the Road Map on Export Promotion, Mr. Jerko Ivanković-Lijanović said: "The main goal is to harmonize the decision making process at all levels in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the areas covered by the Veterinary Office of BiH and the Food Safety Agency of BiH, and to create a single managing chain of all inspections to ensure and assure that all products originating in Bosnia and Herzegovina are safe. For this reason, we need to provide for the accreditation of our laboratories to ensure acceptability of their analyses."  

Since Croatia has been the greatest export market for agricultural products and food originating from Bosnia and Herzegovina, we need to align our safety standards with those of the EU to resume exports once Croatia accedes to the EU. Minister also pointed out that due to the likely suspension of exports to Croatia, our producers were to suffer great losses. To illustrate this, Bosnia and Herzegovina will have surpluses of over 50 million liters of milk, which domestic market will not be able to absorb due to rampant imports. Other animal-origin and plant-origin products are likely to face similar challenges.