First round of negotiations on concluding Free Trade Agreements between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA)

 

The first round of negotiations on concluding the free trade agreement between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA), comprised of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland, was held in Sarajevo on 28, 29 and 30th March 2011.

The BiH side was chaired by Mr. Midhat Salić, Assistant Minister of International Trade Relations at the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, and from EFTA the negotiations were led by Mr. Hanspeter Tschan, a representative of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland, in the presence of representatives of all member countries of EFTA and EFTA Secretariat.

Free Trade Agreement, including its annexes and protocols, consists of the following areas: trade in goods, including industrial products, fish and other marine products and processed agricultural products; intellectual property rights protection; investments, services and public procurement; issues of trade and sustainable development also include the application of international standards in the field of environmental protection and occupational safety, issues of implementation agreement and resolving disputes once the agreement has entered into force.

Since the EFTA countries do not have a common agricultural policy, the trade of basic agricultural products will be covered by bilateral agreements between the individual EFTA countries and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will be negotiated only at the next stage. In the first round of negotiations the proposal of the draft text of the Agreement, submitted by the EFTA Secretariat, was considered and the parties exchanged their positions and comments on it. BiH gave numerous proposals for amendments to the proposed text in different areas, and its adaptation to the interests of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We can highlight the following areas in which the BiH party made the proposals: the application of antidumping measures, the application of general protective measures, the application of bilateral safeguard measures, subsidies and countervailing measures, including the clauses on shortage to the agreement, as well as redefining some parts related to the implementation and dispute resolution.

Both sides expressed their satisfaction over the results of the first round of negotiations. It was agreed that the next round be held in Sarajevo again, in the second half of May, when the Agreement should be considered again.

The BiH side expressed certain reservation about it, proposing amendments to the text of the agreement. According to the EFTA side the proposed amendments need additional internal consultation.

Both sides agreed that in the next round of negotiations expert meetings should be held on specific areas such as: agriculture, trade benefits and protection of intellectual property. Also, the next round of negotiations is scheduled to be the starting point for negotiations on tariff concessions which are an integral part of the free trade agreement between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the EFTA.