ZAGREB/BRUSSELS, July 19 (Hina) - A Croatian delegation, consisting of officials from ministries of economy and agriculture and the customs administration, on Friday held a meeting with representatives of the European Commission on
the issue of Croatia's export of sugar in the European Union.
ZAGREB/BRUSSELS, July 19 (Hina) - A Croatian delegation,
consisting of officials from ministries of economy and agriculture
and the customs administration, on Friday held a meeting with
representatives of the European Commission on the issue of
Croatia's export of sugar in the European Union. #L#
According to the head of the Croatian delegation. Olgica Spevec,
who is an assistant economy minister, the Croatian representatives
acquainted the EC experts with the data about the production,
export and control of sugar in Croatia.
The data show that in 2001 Croatia exported to the EU sugar it
produced and that Croatia in no way exported "smuggled sugar".
The Croatian delegation and the EC experts discussed reasons for
removing Croatia from "a list of dubious countries" pertaining to
the trade in sugar, so that EU members - Germany, Austria, Greece
and Italy - which introduced a deposit for the import of sugar from
Croatia, should annul this measure, Spevec said.
"It has been concluded that the customs bodies of Croatia and the EU
should continue cooperating, and that all materials which Croatia
forwarded last week should be studied, and we expect of the EC to
agree with the Croatian customs administration's conclusion that
Croatia is not problematic regarding the import of sugar and that we
control the trade and that it is not in our interest either to have
illegal or unregistered import," Spevec said.
It is now up to the EC experts to notify the competent bodies of the
data the Croatian delegation has presented as to settle the problem
and withdraw measures.
Croatia has proved that it has clean hands in the sugar export and
that its exporters have strictly abided by the rules about the
origin of the goods and that all the sugar it has exported has been
produced in Croatia, Spevec said adding they called on the EC
representatives to come and check the country's production
capacities.
We did not expect today the decision (on the abolishment of the
deposit), as it cannot be made at an expert meeting, but the
decision is to be adopted after experts relay the data to competent
bodies, Spevec said.
(hina) ms