BOTH CROATIA & BOSNIA BENEFIT FROM PLOCE AGREEMENT - BH MINISTER

( Editorial: --> 9896 ) SARAJEVO, Sept 12 (Hina) - The recently initialled agreement on Ploce will benefit both Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina (BH), the BH Minister for Foreign Commerce and Economic Relations, Mirsad Kurtovic, told Saturday's issue of Sarajevo daily paper Dnevni Avaz. The agreement "represents a new high-point in the relations between the two countries", Kurtovic said of the agreement which was initialled in Zagreb and Sarajevo and is now waiting for parliamentary proceedings. Kurtovic was the head of a BH team which recently negotiated with Croatia the issue of Ploce, a port in southern Croatia, and Neum, Bosnia's access to the Adriatic Sea which cuts through southern- most Croatia. Once a final agreement is reached, BH will be able to make an undisturbed export of its goods through Ploce and use the free zone within the port, Kurtovic said. The agreement envisages that the cargo BH will transport through Ploce will not be subject to any border procedure by Croatian authorities. Kurtovic said the same regime would be applied for the transport of Croatian goods and passengers through Neum. This is a "happy compromise which doesn't violate (any country's) sovereignty", the minister said. (hina) ha 121431 MET sep 98