emporary ban on exports of fruit and vegetables from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Russia remains, much to the dismay of local growers. Minister Sarovic had been confident that the fast-tracked discussions with Russian officials from Rosselʹhoznadzor, planned immediately after the ban was announced on the 12th of August, would be enough to have the ban lifted."Roseljhoznadzor", the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitation, visited Bosnia and Herzegovina from 18-20th of August and their findings were that B/H had exported high-risk products that did not follow the specific phytosanitary requirements.
According to "Roseljhoznadzor", the phytosanitary certificates and seals in B/H are inadequate and can be easily obtained by anyone. The inspectors pointed out that there is no centralised database to issue certificates, making it difficult to ensure phytosanitary security.
The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, in cooperation with the Ministries of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of the Republic of Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, have said that they are doing everything necessary to resolve this issue.
The ban could be detrimental to fruit growers in the Republic of Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who stand to suffer multi-million losses due to their inability to export plums, pears and apples to Russia.
According to Bosnia's agency for statistics, the value of Bosnian exports to Russia increased from 29.2 million euros in 2013 to 50 million euros in 2015, an increase of 71.4 per cent.
The trend continued this year. During the first seven months of 2016, Bosnian exports to Russia were worth 25 million euros, which was 19.5 per cent more compared to the same period in the previous year.
