Bosnia and Herzegovina's Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, Mirko Sarovic, has said that his country wishes to maintain the present volume of trade with Croatia and that he considers harmful and unnecessary tighter control of some food products that are exported to Croatia, such as milk.
In a statement quoted by the Sarajevo newspaper Oslobodjenje of Monday, Sarovic said that the aim of Bosnia and Herzegovina was not to "strike back" at Croatia by tightening the control of the quality of food products that were being imported into Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"There is also great interest on the part of Croatia to talk with us", Sarovic said, recalling that Croatia's food exports to Bosnia and Herzegovina were five times its imports from that country.
Last week, Bosnia and Herzegovina stepped up the control of milk and other food imports from Croatia after a dairy company from Bosanska Dubica had trouble marketing its milk in Croatia.
Sarovic said that the Bosnian market remained open to imports in compliance with the Central European Free Trade Agreement and the interim trade agreement with the European Union. He said that his country, instead of imposing bans, was considering additional incentives for domestic agriculture, including the introduction of blue-dyed diesel.
