STATEMENT

With the objective of regulating market relations and preventing further price rise of edible sunflower oil, in view of insufficient domestic supply and high prices of powdered milk and butter, the Government of Serbia adopted on 6 December a Decision on Criteria Defining Consignment for Import of Edible Sunflower Oil, Powdered Milk and Butter. The Decision was adopted at the initiative of the Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Agriculture and the Finance Ministry, and was a result of trends in edible sunflower oil prices on the Serbian market and respective prices in the countries in the region and in the EU.

The Law on Customs Tariff stipulates a 30% customs rate for edible sunflower oil, whereas the customs duties for powdered milk and butter are 20% and 30%, respectively. The Decision proposes that:
·    a consignment of 15,000 liters of edible sunflower oil should be imported, without paying the customs duty, whereas retail price of the oil cannot exceed 95 dinars per liter,
·    customs duty for powdered milk should be reduced to 5% and for butter to 10%.

The Government’s Decision stipulates that the Customs Administration should forward customs declaration for these commodities to the Ministry of Trade. If the Report on Monitoring Retail Trade of Edible Sunflower Oil, which the Ministry of Trade submits to the Ministry of Finance, should indicate that importer of the consignment has been selling the goods at a retail price higher than 95 dinars per liter, full import levies will be collected for the quantity that was sold at the higher price.

In conformity with authorization stipulated by article 397, paragraph 2 of the Customs Law, the Minister of Finance has promulgated a Rulebook on Import of Commodities in Consignments, which defines the proposed corrections of customs tariffs and the way to submit application for quota entitlement.