ZAGREB, June 4 (Hina) - A Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union will enable goods made in Croatia to have a completely free access to the EU market as of the day when the SAA goes into effect, and this
is likely to be on 1 January 2002, Croatia's chief negotiator with the EU, Neven Mimica, said on Monday. From then on Croatia will definitely no longer be a small market for all manufacturers in Croatia as well as for those who intend to invest in Croatia, Mimica said during a lecture he gave in the Croatian Chamber of Commerce on the occasion of the recent initialling of the SAA. Croatia's product can be sold without tariffs and exported with no limits on the great European market with over 380 million people, Mimica added. According to him, some 80 percent of Croatia's trade should be carried out with no tariff burdens from the start of 2002. At the same
ZAGREB, June 4 (Hina) - A Stabilisation and Association Agreement
(SAA) with the European Union will enable goods made in Croatia to
have a completely free access to the EU market as of the day when the
SAA goes into effect, and this is likely to be on 1 January 2002,
Croatia's chief negotiator with the EU, Neven Mimica, said on
Monday.
From then on Croatia will definitely no longer be a small market for
all manufacturers in Croatia as well as for those who intend to
invest in Croatia, Mimica said during a lecture he gave in the
Croatian Chamber of Commerce on the occasion of the recent
initialling of the SAA.
Croatia's product can be sold without tariffs and exported with no
limits on the great European market with over 380 million people,
Mimica added.
According to him, some 80 percent of Croatia's trade should be
carried out with no tariff burdens from the start of 2002. At the
same time, competition on the Croatian market will become stronger
leading to a decrease in retail prices.
Under an autonomous trade regime which has been implemented by the
EU for the import of Croatia's goods since last November, all
industrial products imported from Croatia are exempt from tariffs
and from any quantity restriction in the EU.
The autonomous regime will be in effect by the end of 2005, when the
contractual regime which copies the previous one will take effect.
The text of the SAA, initialled on May 14, should be made public when
the EU Council of Ministers gives the green light for the European
Commission to sign the SAA, and this can be expected very soon or
immediately after summer holidays, Mimica said.
The bilateral bodies of Croatia and the EU will monitor the
implementation of the SAA and give recommendations for that
process.
Speaking about legal characteristics of the agreement, the
Croatian official said his country had accepted the obligation to
adjust the national legislation with European standards in a
relatively narrow part of the entire European legal code, namely in
the segment referring to the internal market.
Mimica expects Croatia's full membership in the EU between 2008 and
2010, what is dependant on the speed of the Union's enlargement.
(hina) sb ms