The EU’s Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) will conduct a mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 21 January 2014 to 31 January 2014.
 
The mission will assess and evaluate the controls carried out by the Competent Authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina over the production chain and processing of dairy products intended for export to the EU, and hence whether the country’s specific milk businesses are ready to be listed for exporting to the EU. In case of positive assessment of the controls carried out by the competent authorities, Bosnia and Herzegovina will be allowed to export its dairy products to the EU and its central competent authority would subsequently be able to list the BiH milk establishments that are allowed to export their products to the EU.

Over the two weeks, the FVO auditors will meet with the competent authorities, and visit milk businesses, farms and control laboratories. Given the purely technical nature of this exercise, the overall assessment could be expected within two months after the mission, once the findings from the ground are finalised. If the FVO findings identify non-compliances in the control of food and feed safety system, this will help BiH to improve its performance in this field. In that scenario, specific recommendations will follow and only once these recommendations are implemented by BiH would another FVO audit mission be planned.
 
This mission is focused on official controls of the whole milk chain, starting from milk farms to processing establishments; it is expected in particular to assess the level of implementation of the “Milk Protocol”, a political agreement signed between the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Water Management of Republika Srpska and the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry of the Federation (including by all Cantons) ‘on the establishment of a chain of command meeting EU requirements for exports of milk and milk products from Bosnia and Herzegovina to the EU’. Such a chain of command is a key EU import requirement.
 
Since the nature of the Protocol is transitional, the EU equally expects BiH authorities to adopt as a matter of urgency the Veterinary Law, the Law on Food Safety and the Law on Agriculture and Rural Development. BiH authorities need to step up their efforts to meet the EU requirements with regards to food and feed safety controls on farms and milk businesses.