Milk import taxes to remain in effect if Europe gives green light

The outcome of these negotiations will decide whether the local milk industry will be able to count on customs protection in the following six months as well. If this fails to happen, the manufacturers claim, Serbia might get flooded by surplus cheap milk from Europe, which would bring the survival of local production into question.

Serbia has been warned numerous times to honor the Stabilization and Association Agreement and “unblock” the import.

As a well informed source close to Prime Minister's cabinet says for Politika. Serbia is currently not in an enviable position, but everybody hopes for a positive outcome, even though it was indicated that Brussels' response to the extension of milk import taxes might provoke counter-measures – the cancellation of preferences for the import of seasonal fruit from Serbia to the European Union market.

On the other hand, too much is at stake – Serbia is gambling with EUR 325 million, which is the estimated value of the export of frozen and fresh fruit to the EU. Due to this, the country is allegedly trying to offer some sort of compensation to the EU and remove customs duties on certain industrial products outside the agricultural sector that are less significant to Serbia.

- For a year and a half already we have been dealing with this issue and helped to keep the milk industry afloat. The production in 2015 increased by 0.5% relative to 2014, which was to a large extent the result of the protection of the market. I hope that the taxes will remain in effect, or the production of milk will be seriously jeopardized – says Zivanko Radovancev, director of Mlekoprodukt from Zrenjanin.

He adds that he hopes that the new government will make the issue of the survival of the milk industry one of its priorities.