Agreement on customs procedure reached
An agreement on customs procedures has been reached on Monday in the dialogue between working groups of Belgrade and Pristina on implementation of the integrated management of the crossings (IBM), Head of Belgrade's team Dejan Pavicevic said.
(KosovoCompromiseStuff) Tuesday, December 04, 2012
"It has been agreed that customs duties should not be collected at the crossings, but rather at customs terminals that would be located deeper in the territory," Pavicevic told reporters.
He explained that means that customs duties for the goods coming from Kosovo would be collected at terminals in Nis and Vranje, and for the goods entering Kosovo at terminals in the southern part of Kosovska Mitrovica.
Pavicevic added that the customs officers of EULEX, Serbia and Kosovo at the administrative crossings would only control the papers, but will not collect customs duties.
"The customs officers of EULEX will together with customs officers of Serbia and Kosovo carry out customs procedures, which could be called the executive role of EULEX," Pavicevic said.
He said that there will be no state symbols at the crossings, which implies that the symbols of the Republic of Kosovo will be removed from the Merdare crossing.
"That will not be the customs, but rather will look like an ordinary police checkpoint," Pavicevic explained.
When it comes to the contentious issue of the distribution of customs revenues, Pavicevic said that the issue has been resolved through the collection of customs duties at the terminals.
The Serbian side requested that the customs revenues should be channeled directly to the Serb municipalities in northern Kosovo, but for now it is not possible to achieve that, he added.
"We are still talking, but some things have to be resolved at the political level," Pavicevic said.
He explained that the technical protocol which had been initialled by the previous government set some solutions in advance, so it is very difficult to change them now.
"The previous agreement on documents has already determined that all citizens of Kosovo-Metohija have to have documents issued in Kosovo-Metohija. We will try to ensure that at least for a start our citizens in Kosovo be allowed to use license plates issued in Serbia," Pavicevic noted.
"I am certain that a trial implementation of the IBM would start as it has been agreed - on December 10,"Pavicevic said.
Pavicevic said that the technical level talks would be continued on Tuesday, adding that Head of Pristina's team Edita Tahiri, who was not present today, will take part in the dialogue tomorrow.
He announced that Tuesday's talks will also address issues related to energy and telecommunications.
He explained that means that customs duties for the goods coming from Kosovo would be collected at terminals in Nis and Vranje, and for the goods entering Kosovo at terminals in the southern part of Kosovska Mitrovica.
Pavicevic added that the customs officers of EULEX, Serbia and Kosovo at the administrative crossings would only control the papers, but will not collect customs duties.
"The customs officers of EULEX will together with customs officers of Serbia and Kosovo carry out customs procedures, which could be called the executive role of EULEX," Pavicevic said.
He said that there will be no state symbols at the crossings, which implies that the symbols of the Republic of Kosovo will be removed from the Merdare crossing.
"That will not be the customs, but rather will look like an ordinary police checkpoint," Pavicevic explained.
When it comes to the contentious issue of the distribution of customs revenues, Pavicevic said that the issue has been resolved through the collection of customs duties at the terminals.
The Serbian side requested that the customs revenues should be channeled directly to the Serb municipalities in northern Kosovo, but for now it is not possible to achieve that, he added.
"We are still talking, but some things have to be resolved at the political level," Pavicevic said.
He explained that the technical protocol which had been initialled by the previous government set some solutions in advance, so it is very difficult to change them now.
"The previous agreement on documents has already determined that all citizens of Kosovo-Metohija have to have documents issued in Kosovo-Metohija. We will try to ensure that at least for a start our citizens in Kosovo be allowed to use license plates issued in Serbia," Pavicevic noted.
"I am certain that a trial implementation of the IBM would start as it has been agreed - on December 10,"Pavicevic said.
Pavicevic said that the technical level talks would be continued on Tuesday, adding that Head of Pristina's team Edita Tahiri, who was not present today, will take part in the dialogue tomorrow.
He announced that Tuesday's talks will also address issues related to energy and telecommunications.
