"If we were to allow Bosnia and Herzegovina to protect its agricultural products, we would undermine the confidence in other countries that have made great concessions, such as Albania and Macedonia," Vrankovic said in an interview with Dnevni Avaz daily published on Tuesday.
Vrankovic said he did not believe an overall solution would be found before the signing of the CEFTA treaty, scheduled for December 19 in Bucharest.
Bosnia and Herzegovina refused to initial the CEFTA treaty in November, demanding that Croatia allow the reimposition of customs duties on certain agricultural products it exports to Bosnia and Herzegovina. It later said that Croatia had initially agreed to such conditions only to suddenly change its mind. Vrankovic strongly rejected such allegations.
"We did not change our position overnight. We only wanted to analyse what was not working for Bosnia and Herzegovina and we are still willing to do that. We, however, cannot change a principle, which is that the CEFTA is based on the existing agreements," the Croatian negotiator said.
He said that certain concessions were still possible on the Croatian part, but not to the extent as demanded by the Bosnian government, adding that Bosnia and Herzegovina should be able to function without protection within the CEFTA if it wanted to join the European Union.
The treaty amending the CEFTA was initialled in Brussels on November 9 by Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania and UNMIK/Kosovo. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia refused to initial the document, demanding more favourable conditions.
Bosnia and Herzegovina wants more favourable conditions for several agricultural products than provided for under the existing bilateral agreements with Croatia and Serbia, while Serbia demands a better position for its tobacco industry than envisaged under bilateral agreements with other parties to the agreement.