Kosovo to Hike Taxes on Serbian, Bosnian Goods

Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj on Wednesday said he backed a call by Trade and Industry Minister Endrit Shala for the country to sharply increase taxes on Serbian and Bosnian imports from 10 per cent, as imposed on November 6, to 100 per cent.

Haradinaj said the tax hike would come into effect immediately and all government institutions would have to take note of it.

Shala said that Kosovo was still being treated "unequally" in regional markets by Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"Nobody can sell their products in Kosovo and, at the same time, forbid our products from being sold in their markets. This is a reciprocal relation and we insist that this should be respected," Shala said.

Haradinaj said he supported the new measures. "Kosovo has been blocked for a long time and … CEFTA [the regional free trade agreement] is not functioning between Kosovo and Serbia, so I support the proposal," he said.

The European Union criticised the tax imposed by Kosovo on 6 November and asked the authorities to abolish it.

But the government has declined to do so, saying it imposed the new tariffs on products from Serbia and Bosnia for their "negative behaviour towards Kosovo". Neither country recognises Kosovo's independence.

Serbia is continuing its aggressive campaign against Kosovo in the int'l stage. It is also undermining the normalisation process. To defend our vital interest, Government of Kosovo has decided today to increase the customs tariff to 100%. Further measures to be announced soon!

— Enver Hoxhaj (@Enver_Hoxhaj) November 21, 2018

Kosovo's Trade and Industry Ministry said that imports from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina had decreased by 50 per cent since the new tax came into force...