The EU moved recently to end quotas on dairy production within the European Community, a decision that could have disastrous ramifications for milk producers in BiH. BiH’s dairy industry has already suffered from the closing of the Croatian market. With a continent-wide drop in milk prices–which the quota decision is expected to bring–small-scale farmers in Bosnia may be forced out of business.
Smaller farmers all across Europe are deeply concerned. Bosnian farmers were struggling for survival already because of Bosnia’s weak economy and poorly regulated market. Now they face the threat of obliteration as a result of cheaper imports.
“Lifting the quotas is the last nail in the coffin as far as milk producers are concerned,” the head of the Association of Agricultural Producers in Bosnia’s Federation entity, Mehmed Niksic, said.
“We have to go out on the streets with radical moves and say ‘No!’ to importers’ lobbies,” he added.
The dramatic situation has forced Bosnia’s mainly Serbian entity, Republika Srpska – which traditionally seeks maximum autonomy from the state – to seek help from Bosnia’s state institutions.
The recently-activated Stabilization and Association Agreement between the EU and BiH is intended to expand Europe’s free-trade regime into the country. The showdown over milk exports will serve as an important test case for the impact of free trade on the local economy.
