During a meeting with officials of Bosnia's two entities in Sarajevo on Friday, Zirojevic said that a recent decision by the Croatian government to ban imports of live fish from Bosnia was yet another proof of continuous difficulties Bosnian exporters were facing when exporting to neighbouring countries.
"In addition, goods are kept at customs terminals for too long, excessively high tariffs are charged for the customs inspection of goods, and samples are taken from each and every shipment," the minister said while speaking about difficulties in the export of goods to Croatia and Serbia.
All of this prompted the minister to send letters to relevant ministries in the two countries asking them to remove such obstacles.
"If this produces no results, our first step will be to to send diplomatic notes to the Croatian and Serbian governments. And if that doesn't work, we will report Croatia and Serbia to CEFTA, " Zirojevic said, not ruling out other counter-measures as well.
Meanwhile, Bosnian Deputy Trade Minister Vilim Primorac told the local press that Bosnia had ceased importing chicken and beef from Croatia on Thursday.
Primorac denied media reports that this was part of a trade war between the two countries following Croatia's ban on live fish imports from Bosnia.
The Bosnian Veterinary Office on Thursday adopted "an instruction to prevent the spreading of atypical poultry plague" in Bosnia from Croatia and decided to ban beef imports from Croatia in order to prevent the spreading of "bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)".
"Some media interpret this as a trade war between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, which is not true. It is the fact that while adjusting its legislation to European standards (in this segment), Croatia amended its laws, making access to the Croatian market more difficult for Bosnian products. Bosnia-Herzegovina also adjusted its regulations in the said area, and that's how this misunderstanding came about, but it will be solved in the coming days," Primorac said.
He added that the two countries' veterinary services were in close contact to defuse the situation.
Croatia's Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry on Friday reported that Bosnia-Herzegovina had banned the import of poultry, poultry products, cattle, beef and fish from Croatia, and denied statements that this was actually Bosnia's counter-move to the bans Croatia had imposed on Bosnian food products.
The Croatian ministry expressed dissatisfaction at the measures which Bosnia introduced without any previous announcement and consultations, and fears about implications on the good trade relations between the two countries, according to a statement issued by the Croatian ministry.
Croatia has sent a protest note to Sarajevo and is expecting a high-level meeting on the matter.
The ministry explained that Croatia, as a candidate for EU membership, has brought its legislation into line with regulations under the Chapter on Food Safety, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Policy, which concern the application of international standards in the international shipment of animals and products of animal origin.
As a member of the World Trade Organisation, Croatia respects international agreements on sanitary and phytosanitary measures, the ministry said, explaining that Croatia does not apply arbitrary or disguised measures which restrict international trade.