Serbian and Macedonian government officials will meet in Skopje to try and solve a trade dispute over imports of Serbian flour
Serbian Trade Minister Rasim Ljajic and Macedonian Agriculture Minister Ljupco Nikolovski will meet in Skoplje on Wednesday to discuss how to resolve an ongoing row over Serbian flour imports, the trade ministry in Belgrade confirmed to BIRN.
Previously Serbia had said it would impose counter-measures on Macedonia after Skopje adopted new procedures for imports of Serbian flour.
“We can wait no longer. Other than buying time, we have seen no readiness on their part to solve the issue,” Ljajic told the daily newspaper Danas.
Macedonia’s new regulations require flour to be stored and examined before being stamped in Macedonia, rather than in Serbia, making the process longer and allegedly unprofitable, according to Serbian producers.
However, Nikolovski on Tuesday expressed readiness to allow for smaller packages weighing up to five kilogrammes to be stamped in Serbia.
Unofficially, sources from the Macedonian ministry say that they are thinking about establishing a joined committee with Serbia that will be tasked with overcoming the problem in order to speed up and ease the export and import of not only flour but agricultural goods in general.
“If all goes well and this committee is formed, we hope it will produce a protocol that should put an end to all the problems that exporters from both sides are facing,” the source said, adding that the goal is to have the protocol ready and signed before the first joint session between the two governments which is scheduled for later this month.
Meanwhile Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev has called a meeting of the national Committee on Agriculture and Food Safety for Wednesday, at which one of the main topics for discussion is expected to be the issue of Serbian flour.
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