Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) signed Friday in Belgrade two protocols thanks to which the mutual trade in agro-food products will be facilitated and accelerated.

The documents were signed by Serbian Minister of Agriculture and Trade Dusan Petrovic and BiH Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Mirko Sarovic.

The protocols envisage the mutual recognition of prescribed conditions on the processing of food and feed of plant and mixed origin, and the cooperation in the protection of plant health.

After the signing, Petrovic said that a new path for the trade between Serbia and BiH has been made, and that there will be less formality thanks to the mutual recognition of laboratory results of accredited institutions.

He also said that the protocols imply using the full capacity of the CEFTA agreement and that non-tariff barriers will be removed.

Sarovic noted that this is a very important moment and that it represents the resumption of earlier agreements for
overcoming non-tariff barriers in the CEFTA region.

He pointed out that this way the bilateral cooperation will be fostered, and that the trade in food will be cheaper.
Sarovic said that Croatia will become an EU member in a year, which will result in "certain security barriers" for the economies of Serbia and BiH.