Belgrade and Prishtina reach agreement on customs procedures

An agreement has been reached in Brussels on some issues related to the agreement on the joint management of crossings with Kosovo, B92 reported.

This deal, accepted by the previous Serbian government during the EU-sponsored Kosovo talks, is known as "Integrated Border Management (IBM)", and is expected to be implemented starting December 10.

Head of Belgrade`s working group for the implementation of the agreement Dejan Pavicevic said he did not expect any major changes to take place on the crossing at Jarinje and Merdare, which will be the first to begin to work under the new regime.

He explained that the clearance of goods would not be taking place at the crossings themselves.

- It was agreed that goods would not be cleared at the actual crossing, but at customs terminals in the depth of the territory - Pavicevic was quoted as saying on Monday.

As he explained, this means that goods coming from Kosovo will be cleared in Nis and Vranje, while those coming from the opposite direction in the southern, ethnic Albanian part of the town of Kosovska Mitrovica.

Pavicevic added that the EU mission, EULEX customs officers, and those of Serbia and Kosovo would "only control papers" at administrative crossings.

- EULEX customs officials will, along with customs officials of Serbia and Kosovo, perform customs procedures, which we can refer to as an executive role of EULEX - said he.

The future role on EULEX was also agreed upon in Brussels on Monday.

- The crossings of Jarinje and Merdare will bear no state insignia of any kind - this government official said.

The teams for the implementation of the IBM are yet to reach an agreement on the implementation of other disputed parts of the deal, those governing the issues of license plates, travel insurance and personal documents. However, he hopes that these "ambiguities" will not be an obstacle to the implementation of the agreement itself.

Pavicevic also addressed the issue of distribution of customs revenue, saying that it was "resolved through the clearance of goods at terminals." The request of the Serbian side was that the revenue should be paid directly to Serb municipalities in northern Kosovo, "but for now it is not possible," he added. "We are still talking, but some things have to be addressed at the political level," he said.

Pavicevic explained that the technical protocol, which was initialed by the previous government, predefined some solutions, and that it was "now very difficult to change them."

- The previous agreement on the documents already provided that all citizens of Kosovo and Metohia must have documents issued in Kosovo and Metohia. We will try to make it possible for our citizens in Kosovo to use plates issued in Serbia, at least for some time - said Pavicevic.

"I am convinced that the trial implementation of the agreement on the IBM will start as agreed on December 10," he stated and added that Prime Minister Ivica Dacic "will be informed in detail" about the results of the meeting of the working groups, before his own meeting on Tuesday with Hashim Thaci and Catherine Ashton.

The technical dialogue will also continue on Tuesday morning, and any issues that the groups fail to agree on will be transferred to the political level - i.e., Ivica Dacic and Hashim Thaci "will be informed about any difficulties."

Dacic said after the meeting with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton and Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci that it was agreed that four administrative crossings between central Serbia and Kosovo would become operational by the end of December.

The Prime Minister explained that administrative crossings Konculj, Merdare, Jarinje and Brnjak would not clear goods going to Serbs in northern Kosovo.

Dacic said that two administrative crossings would be completed and opened by December 10th, while the other two would become operational by the end of the month.

According to him, the working groups of Belgrade and Pristina will continue to discuss the issue of customs documents and license plates on 10 January 2013.

The Prime Minister said that it was agreed that a special unit of the Kosovo Police Service (KPS), mostly composed of Serbs, would protect Serbian cultural and religious heritage in the whole province.