ZAGREB/BRUSSELS, April 16 (Hina) - Negotiations between Croatia and the European Commission on Protocol VII on the technical adjustment of trade in agricultural produce was successfully concluded in Brussels on Friday, Croatian
Agriculture Minister Petar Cobankovic told Hina by telephone.
ZAGREB/BRUSSELS, April 16 (Hina) - Negotiations between Croatia and the
European Commission on Protocol VII on the technical adjustment of
trade in agricultural produce was successfully concluded in Brussels
on Friday, Croatian Agriculture Minister Petar Cobankovic told Hina by
telephone.#L#
Cobankovic said he was satisfied with the successful outcome of the
negotiations aimed at regulating trade between Croatia and the
enlarged European Union.
"The agreed quotas for the import of EU agricultural products in
Croatia do no exceed in any segment the sum of quotas from the
EU-Croatia transitional agreement and bilateral agreements with six
acceding countries, and even considerably lower quotas were agreed for
most products," the minister said.
For instance, the sum of quotas for ice cream would be 1,760 tonnes,
but the agreed quota which Croatia will import without tariffs is 450
tonnes.
Protocol VII was initialled on Friday and will be signed after it is
translated into all official languages of the European Union.
All the agreed quotas are within the guidelines which the Croatian
negotiating team was given by the government.
Protocol VII, which was agreed at four rounds of the talks, regulates
trade between Croatia and the 25-member European Union. Of ten
countries entering the Union on 1 May, six had bilateral free-trade
agreements with Croatia. The six bilateral deals will no longer be
valid after the six countries join the Union.
Croatia's trade with the 15-member EU is regulated by the
Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), namely the transitional
agreement on the matter which is in effect until all EU member
countries ratify the SAA. This is an asymmetrical agreement in favour
of Croatia, which gives Croatian products, excluding beef, wine and
fish, free access to EU markets. On the other hand, Croatia's market
will gradually open to EU products over a six-year period.
The European Commission negotiated Protocol VII on behalf of the six
acceding countries.
Trade with the enlarged EU will account for 70 percent of Croatia's
trade as of May 1.
(Hina) ms