BLACK MARKET TRADE IN E. CROATIA IS ON THE DECREASE

( Editorial: --> 2250 ) VUKOVAR, Jan 4 (Hina) - The number of black market shops and stalls in eastern Croatia is on the decrease since the Croatian Ministry of Interior Affairs took over command of the Transitional Police Force in the area last month and Assistant Interior Minister Josko Moric announced an impending end to smuggling. "Moric's announcements on impending bans and calls on entrepreneurs to register in line with Croatian regulations have obviously been effective", a spokesman for Moric's office, Slavko Rako, said in Vukovar Sunday. "This is also good for locals and the TPS, since the legal order is being enforced without unnecessary repression", he added. Black marketeering is also made impossible by an efficient control of the state border with Yugoslavia and a consistent enforcement of regulations on local border traffic between Croatia and Yugoslavia, said Rako. During regular traffic control procedures the TPS last week seized considerable quantities of fake goods illegally brought into eastern Croatia. This too proved that the TPS is determined to put an end to black marketeering, Rako said. (hina) ha lm 041441 MET jan 98