According to the EU Delegation to BiH, the European Commission is considering extending its “Autonomous Trade Measures” for Balkan states that are currently in the pre-accession process, with the exception of BiH. The EU plans to suspend the ATM with BiH at the end of this year, at which point the BiH-EU Stabilization and Association Agreement’s trade provisions would take effect. The ATM agreements exempts states that are working toward EU candidacy from EU import duties. Bosnia’s Stabilization and Association Agreement, once it is activated, will gradually establish free trade between Europe and BiH.
Once adopted, the suspension of these autonomous trade privileges (duty free access to EU markets) for certain agricultural products from BiH would take effect on 1 January 2016, unless BiH before the end of 2015 agrees to adapt the EU-BiH Interim Agreement (or, once in force, the Stabilisation and Association Agreement) to take into account the traditional trade which existed between Croatia and BiH before Croatia became a member of the EU.
All other Western Balkan countries have agreed on an Adaptation Protocol with the EU except for BiH.
