Emir Djikic, Director of the CEFTA Secretariat, presented the key results achieved by the CEFTA Parties in the light of the joint decision on the development of the Common Regional Market, agreed in November last year in Sofia.
“CEFTA, together with its partners, is making great efforts to bring the idea of a Common Regional Market to life, as well as to implement key activities from the Common Regional Market Action Plan, as quickly as possible for the benefit of our citizens and companies. When we summarized the results from 2020, which brought many challenges, we could say that CEFTA made trade easier in challenging times, as well as promise that it will remain our priority in 2021. We are working on various processes, which would save companies time and costs, and some of them are – the expansion of the Green Corridors within CEFTA and with the EU, the facilitation of e-commerce, the validation of AEO programs. Significant work has been done at the expert level, and now the adoption of these important decisions should be a priority. The team in the CEFTA Secretariat, colleagues from the administrations, our partners, we were all dedicated to this and I can proudly elaborate and present quite good results for the first half of 2021,” said Emir Djikic.
Highlights:
CEFTA Green Corridors have been extended to all crossings in the region, including level crossings. The green corridors will be extended to Greece as well, as announced by the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, at the Summit in Berlin. The application of this concept will serve as a test for connecting with EU member states. As a reminder, Green Corridors / Lanes were established at the very beginning of the outbreak of COVID-19 to prevent shortages of basic goods and medical supplies and to alleviate disturbances in the transport and trade of goods caused by various precautions taken due to the pandemic. For this reason, the CEFTA Secretariat and the Permanent Secretariat of the Transport Community have jointly prepared a proposal to facilitate the transport and trade of essential goods in the Western Balkans, and the initiative has been implemented in less than a month. Statistics show that approximately 80 percent of trucks use CEFTA Green Corridors, and 20 percent of those who use them transport goods of priority necessity and realize the benefits of priority passage. In 2020, since the beginning of the pandemic, 500,000 trucks have used this initiative and no major delays have been recorded since then. Given the success of this initiative, the Parties have agreed to extend it to all border crossings and it has been operational since May.
In light of the European Union’s economic importance for the region, which accounts for about two-thirds of all trade, CEFTA Parties have expressed strong interest in extending the Green Corridors to the border crossings with neighboring EU Member States, based on the conclusions of the Sofia Summit last November. This initiative will benefit both the EU and CEFTA Parties by reducing congestion at crossings, as the average waiting time for trucks at some CEFTA / EU border crossings is more than two hours.
Decision to facilitate e-commerce
Reports on the validation of the AEO program for Northern Macedonia, Serbia and Moldova have been completed and are ready for adoption. The remaining Parties are encouraged to apply for the validation procedure. To recall, by mutual recognition the customs administrations involved agreement to recognize validated AEO programs issued in one market in the other six markets. This status allows for easier customs clearance in general and is a key element in strengthening supply chain security, providing multiple benefits to trade.
Mutual recognition of AEO security and safety programs for companies with this status would allow them to benefit from it in all CEFTA Parties.
The e-commerce facilitation decision, which sets out e-commerce rules under CEFTA, has been finalized. By adopting a common market principle and harmonizing key rules, companies are provided with one set of rules for seven markets. This means: there is no special approval and registration for digital companies, costs related to regulatory analysis, compliance, enforcement and courts are reduced.
Negotiations on professional qualifications at the expert level have been completed, while significant progress has been made in negotiations on dispute resolution and the abolition of work permits and tourism services.
CEFTA is an integrated market of 20 million people that is more competitive on the European and global scene, more attractive to foreign and interregional investors and could bring an additional 6.7% of GDP growth in the region. The idea of establishing a Common Regional Market will help the region adopt EU standards and move closer to the EU single market, BiF reports.
