Q:
A:
Serbia to ratify CEFTA by end of September
Belgrade,
4 June 2007
Serbian State Secretary at the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development Jasna Matic said that Serbia will ratify the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) by the end of September.
Jasna Matic
In an interview for the news agency Beta, Matic said that all obstacles in trade relations between Serbia and Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia have been removed, which allows the adoption of the bill on ratification of CEFTA by Serbian parliament.
According to Matic, countries signatory to CEFTA have agreed to the Serbian government’s action plan for the tobacco industry, which envisages equalising excise duty on domestic and foreign cigarettes from January 1, 2008 and an increase in customs duty from 15% to 57.6%.
Matic explained that all protective measures envisaged by CEFTA will cease to be valid with Serbia’s entry into the World Trade Organisation, which was planned to take place next year, and in any case will not be valid after 2009.
The biggest advantage for Serbia in ratifying CEFTA comes from the so called principle of diagonal accumulation, which makes it possible to place products which were jointly produced by several member countries on the EU market according to a preferential regime, said Matic.
She stressed that Serbia has a surplus in trade with all CEFTA signatory countries, except Croatia and Moldavia, and a quarter of the total export falls into the CEFTA region, whereas the imports are only 6%.
Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, Moldavia and the UNMIK signed the CEFTA in Bucharest on December 19, 2006, which previously included Croatia, Macedonia, Romania and Bulgaria.
According to Matic, countries signatory to CEFTA have agreed to the Serbian government’s action plan for the tobacco industry, which envisages equalising excise duty on domestic and foreign cigarettes from January 1, 2008 and an increase in customs duty from 15% to 57.6%.
Matic explained that all protective measures envisaged by CEFTA will cease to be valid with Serbia’s entry into the World Trade Organisation, which was planned to take place next year, and in any case will not be valid after 2009.
The biggest advantage for Serbia in ratifying CEFTA comes from the so called principle of diagonal accumulation, which makes it possible to place products which were jointly produced by several member countries on the EU market according to a preferential regime, said Matic.
She stressed that Serbia has a surplus in trade with all CEFTA signatory countries, except Croatia and Moldavia, and a quarter of the total export falls into the CEFTA region, whereas the imports are only 6%.
Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, Moldavia and the UNMIK signed the CEFTA in Bucharest on December 19, 2006, which previously included Croatia, Macedonia, Romania and Bulgaria.
-
Belgrade, 29 October 2024State moves to minimise advertising for betting shops
-
Belgrade/Berlin, 28 January 2016Fences cannot stop migrations
-
Belgrade, 7 January 2016Serbia to experience dynamic economic growth in 2016
-
Belgrade, 31 December 2015Serbia will persevere on path of development, reforms
-
Belgrade, 30 December 2015Ground for Serbia’s progress set
-
Belgrade, 28 December 2015
Serbia ready for improvement of cooperation with Russia
-
Belgrade, 22 December 2015Serbia ready to open six more chapters next year
-
Belgrade, 21 December 2015Serbia to be part of EU by 2020
-
Belgrade, 20 December 2015Serbia ready for EU membership by 2019
-
Belgrade, 16 December 2015Chapter 35 not substitute for Belgrade-Pristina dialogue