Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina
May 8, 2009
USDA/FAS GAIN report BK 9004
Report highlights:
Since the passage of the
Food Law of November 2004, GMOs have not been permitted into
Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH). The new Law on GMO that was
just passed, permits the importation of licensed GMOs.
However, it is again a defacto ban because the approval
procedure has yet to be defined, making entry impossible.
BiH’s anti-biotech position has influenced U.S. commercial
imports, and several years ago it even opposed corn and
soybean food assistance shipments. Knowledge about
biotechnology is poor, even among scientists and
agricultural officials. Agriculturalists and non-government
organizations that promote organic agriculture oppose
biotech applications and encourage producers, consumers and
regulators to reject biotech products. Report updated:
April, 2009. Sections updated: I, II, III, IV, V, and VI.
Section I. Executive summary:
Bosnia and Herzegovina
(BiH) imports around two-thirds of its overall food needs.
The principal trading partners are neighboring countries
such as Croatia and Serbia and European Union (EU)
countries. Imports of U.S. consumer products have been
minor. However, a U.S. food donation program successfully
imported U.S. bulk commodities, mostly wheat and sunflower
seed oil. Although there has not been much trade between the
two countries, reservations towards the U.S. origin foods
has increased recently. Generally, these impressions seem to
be tied to biotechnology applications, and particularly to
products containing either soy or corn.
BiH recently started adopting regulations that govern
biotech products. Following the passage of the 2004 Food
Law, importation and marketing of biotech products was
forbidden due to the lack of detailed regulations. However,
these regulations were never drafted because it seemed more
appropriate to further regulate this area with the new Law
on GMO instead. The new Law on GMO that BiH Parliament just
passed is in line with the European Union (EU) regulations
and it allows licensed use of GMO, but again – the bylaws
that define the actual approval procedures have not yet been
drafted. Until these procedures are drafted and approved, no
GMO will be allowed into BiH.
Generally speaking, biotech products are viewed as
undesirable in BiH. Consumers dislike biotech foods and have
reservations towards “GM foods” due to a lack of consumer
knowledge of the subject and negative influence from EU
countries. Sophisticated consumers think that they do not
have enough information to be for or against biotech
products, and that they need more education in order to
decide whether or not they will consume such products. More
information could change consumer attitudes towards
biotechnology in a positive direction. Additionally, more
knowledgeable consumers say they would eat biotech foods
after proper testing and labeling, so they could decide
whether they want to buy such a product.
The position of the EU has influenced both the regulators
and consumers, but it is not the only reason for Bosnia’s
resistance. Both the government and farmers tend to think
that organic production is an important segment of BiH
agriculture. In BiH, agricultural production is more
traditionally oriented and the use of
agrochemicals/pesticides is lower then elsewhere in Europe.
There are also few industrial polluters. Agriculturists
believe that the release of biotech products would threaten
organic production in the country and cause losses of
potential export markets.
Full report |
|
