Bosnia & Herzegovina could lose around BAM50mn (€25.6mn) by the end of the year following Russia’s ban on imports from the country, according to an estimate from the Bosnian foreign trade chamber, Indikator.ba reported on August 5.

Russian veterinary and phytosanitary body Rosselkhoznadzor has banned imports of products from Bosnia from August 4 since there was not enough evidence of their safety. Rosselkhoznadzor said that the ban is being imposed as it has not enough information about the phytosanitary status of Bosnia. Also, Bosnia’s foreign affairs ministry declined to allow Rosselkhoznadzor to check the phytosanitary control and control of the systems.

In the first half of the year, Bosnian firms exported goods worth BAM46.2mn to Russia, according to data from the foreign trade chamber.

Meanwhile, Bosnia’s foreign trade minister Mirko Sarovic told Kilx.ba that the government is trying to find a way to meet the necessary requirements so that Russia lifts the ban on imports.

“The directorate for protection of health of herbs in BiH has invited the Russian side to visit Bosnia as soon as possible and to visit exports firms. At this moment, we are doing everything to overcome the situation with Russia,” Sarovic told Klix.ba.

Russia insists on health certificates for fruits and vegetables, and objects the lack of a unified system for quality control of products in Bosnia.

Sarovic has explained earlier that phytosanitary certificates in Bosnia are issued by the authorities of the two entities – the Muslim-Croat Federation and Republika Srpska - while the state-level directorate is responsible for cases when another country has objections to a certificate, which is the case with Russia.