The trade agreement with Great Britain expired with its exit from the EU on December 31, and a new one has not been signed yet.
As RTS has learned from the relevant ministry, it is still being discussed. And while the negotiations are going on, the businessmen say that they are suffering damage – the costs of exports have increased up to several times, and the flow of goods has slowed down.
Car tires, raspberries and ice cream – the main Serbian products on the British market could soon become in short supply. The reason – many times higher customs duties on Serbian goods from January 1.
“For example, for the export of frozen fruit, the customs duty has practically gone from 12 to 20 percent. If you imagine that there is a margin, a margin of five percent in that market. The moment you change the customs duty from two to 12 percent, you have practically killed every chance to earn and the impossibility to be competitors,” says Mihailo Vesovic from the Serbian Chamber of Commerce.
This drastically increases the price of trade and the value of goods on the market, says Vesovic and points out that this is a problem for our exporters who already have contracted jobs under certain conditions.
The two delegations discussed the conditions in the new agreement twice – before the end of last year and a week ago. The part of the agreement that refers to trade, they say in the relevant ministry – is almost ready. Only one question remained open.
“I am convinced that in the third round of our conversation it is possible to harmonize this open issue and then we will wait for the realization of this second part, ie those other issues, which are of a general political nature and regulate the overall relations between the two countries,” said Stevan Nikcevic, State Secretary at the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications.
It is precisely these political issues that seem to be the main brake. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not want to comment on what exactly they mean. Details are provided by the media – according to the allegations, among the requests is e.g. commitment to “full co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia” in The Hague, as well as the prevention and control of illegal immigration. The ambassador of that country in Belgrade announced on the course of negotiations on Facebook.
“Negotiations on an agreement between the United Kingdom and Serbia were interrupted by the Covid 19 epidemic, as well as the introduction of a state of emergency in Serbia, in March last year. Further delays followed due to the June parliamentary elections in Serbia and five months of forming the government are progressing,” wrote Shan McLeod, the British ambassador to Serbia.
According to her, the draft agreement is based on the existing Stabilization and Association Agreement between Serbia and the EU.
“Serbia has not been asked to take on any new obligations. The draft agreement does not contain any surprises,” McLeod said.
The connection between the trade agreement and the political one
It is not surprising that Great Britain insists on linking the trade agreement with the political one, says the former ambassador of Serbia in London.
“Brexit, among other things, meant a new, global role for Great Britain, where it left the EU with the intention of playing a role similar to the one it had before, from some other times. And in that sense, if that is true what we see in the media, we should look at her demands to sign some political part,” says Ognjen Pribicevic, former ambassador of Serbia to the United Kingdom and Germany.
This area, he says, is not an area of great interest for Great Britain, but as a great power it wants to keep its political and military influence, and on the other hand we have an interest in having good political relations with that country, and above all good trade and economic relations.
The United Kingdom has been working rapidly to regulate bilateral relations with other countries since leaving the EU. So far, 63 agreements have been concluded, including with Albania and Northern Macedonia, B92 reports.
