Serbian Minister of Agriculture Dragan Veselinov and his Croatian counterpart Bozidar Pankretic harmonised an agreement on the free trade of agricultural and food products, in a move seen as another step towards establishing a free trade zone in the region and improving economic relations between the two countries, the Beta news agency reported. Under the initial agreement, over 90% of agricultural products will be duty free.

The agreement also envisions three different customs regimes for three groups of products. The A list includes 73 groups of products that will be exempt from customs duties, such as fruits, vegetables and cattle breeding products. The B list includes 20 groups of products, mainly fruits and vegetables, subject to a 25% customs duty, which is significantly lower than in either Croatia or Serbia. The existing customs regime will apply to the C list products, such as crops, edible oil, wine, sugar, tobacco, cigarettes and meat products, although both countries will be allowed to establish import quotas. Serbia and Croatia are expected to sign a free trade agreement on November 5.

(NewsBase 25.x.02)