ZAGREB, June 13 (Hina) - Croatia's government on Thursday passed a decree on the protection of the domestic production against excessive import. The decree stipulates conditions and procedure for the introduction of protective
measures such as an increase in duties and the determination of imported amounts for some goods.
ZAGREB, June 13 (Hina) - Croatia's government on Thursday passed a
decree on the protection of the domestic production against
excessive import. The decree stipulates conditions and procedure
for the introduction of protective measures such as an increase in
duties and the determination of imported amounts for some goods.
#L#
Protective measures can last not longer than four year, Economy
Minister Hrvoje Vojkovic said adding that the government's
measures did not clash with the commitments Croatia has as a World
Trade Organisation member.
The members of the government supported this move, but they also
suggested that a decree should be adopted for the protection of the
domestic production from excessive export, referring to the
situation in timber and wood industry.
The economy ministry is supposed to propose such a decree within
next 30 days.
The timber and wood industry, which is the second biggest exporter
among the industrial branches, was almost completely devastated in
the past 10 years, but the incumbent government, which has been in
the office for two years, also failed to do anything to change the
situation, Reconstruction Minister Radimir Cacic claimed.
A Vice Premier, Slavko Linic, complained about the excessive export
of saw logs although the country had skilled workers and equipment
for the processing of the raw material in this branch.
Another Vice Premier Zeljka Antunovic asked the Croatian Forests
supervisory board to revise all the contracts on the export of saw
logs.
Small Business Minister, Zeljko Pecek, a member of the Croatian
Forests company's supervisory board, advocated a more selective
attitude including the ban on the export of timber needed in the
domestic industry.
The government defined a final text of a bill on strategic commodity
stockpiles. The new bill envisages the separation of the commodity
stockpiles unit from the Economy Ministry and the establishment of
an independent administrative unit: the state administration for
commodity stockpiles.
The buffer stocks should be planned for extraordinary situations
such as war and disaster. They should be enough for the provision of
50,000 people at the time term from 15 to 60 days, and a part of those
strategic stocks should be kept in money and not only in
commodities.
Around 600 million kuna (82 million euro) should be allocated from
the state budget for the provision of the strategic stockpiles for
five years.
The government made a decree on cutting the default interest from
the current 18 to 15 percent annually as of 1 July.
The government agreed on buying a fire-fighting aircraft C-415 from
a Canadian company "Bombardier". The price of the plane is 23
million US dollars, with the seven-year-long period of payment and
interest rate LIBOR + 0.50 percent annually. A government
commission should try to trade in old C-215 planes for the new one
which will reduce the price by 15 percent per plane.
(hina) ms