The veterinary sector is regulated by the framework Law on Veterinary of BiH (“Official Gazette of BiH”, No. 34/02). Products subject to the licence regime for export and import are listed in the Decision on Classification of Goods for Export and Import Regimes (“Official Gazette of BiH”, No. 22/98). The products pertaining to protection of animals are listed in Annex 1 of the Amendment to this Decision (“Official Gazette of BiH”, No. 29/05) – List of goods for reproduction and protection of animals and herbs (see link on Licences).
Animals in circulation must be accompanied by a prescribed veterinary-health certificate confirming heath condition of the animals i.e. that at the origin location of the animals there was no occurrence of certain contagious diseases which can be transmitted by that type of animals or confirming other prescribed requirements. A veterinary certificate can be issued only upon determining that the animal is healthy, that it does not come from an infected area, that there is no prohibition or limitation of movement issued for the purpose of general protection of human and animal health and that the animal is properly identified. The veterinary certificate of the animal shall contain an identification number (code) of ear stamp. The veterinary certificate shall be issued for a defined period and signed by the official veterinary issuing it and who has the authorisation to sign certificates and it must correspond to regulations on veterinary certificates of the Directive 96/93/ of the Council of Europe.
Products of animal origin in trade must be marked in a prescribed manner and followed by a prescribed veterinary-health certificate or certificate confirming health validity of products, i.e. that at the place of origin there was no evidence of certain contagious diseases and that other prescribed requirements are met. On the web site of the Veterinary Office of BiH (www.vet.gov.ba) the forms of various veterinary certificates can be found.
The Border Veterinary control is prescribed by Article 25 of the Law on Veterinary. The control, monitoring and coordination of the work of border veterinary inspection shall be conducted by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH through the Veterinary Office of BiH which coordinates the work of the border veterinary inspection and proposes regulations for determining uniform documentation for import, i.e. export of animals, raw materials, waste and products and animal origin waste and establishment of a unified information system of border veterinary inspection. The procedure of import in this area, as well as appearance and form of the request is regulated by the Rulebook on Conditions of Import and Transport of Live Animals, Animal Origin Products, Veterinary Medications, Cattle Food and Waste of Animal Origin in BiH (“Official Gazette of BiH”, No. 52/09 and 38/10).
The Veterinary Office determines veterinary-health conditions of import or transport by the decision for each individual shipment and country of origin. The list of acts can be found at the web site of the Veterinary Office. The import is possible only from the facilities that are entered into the Registry at the Veterinary Office. The Decision is issued based on a written request submitted on the forms in Annex I of the Rulebook. For the import of certain shipments it is not required to have the decision and the list of those products is given in Annex II of the Rulebook, on the condition that the shipments originate from registered facilities and that they do not originate in the countries for which the prohibitions of import to BiH are in effect. The list of border crossings these shipments can be imported through is given in Annex III of the Rulebook.
Animals in circulation must be accompanied by a prescribed veterinary-health certificate confirming heath condition of the animals i.e. that at the origin location of the animals there was no occurrence of certain contagious diseases which can be transmitted by that type of animals or confirming other prescribed requirements. A veterinary certificate can be issued only upon determining that the animal is healthy, that it does not come from an infected area, that there is no prohibition or limitation of movement issued for the purpose of general protection of human and animal health and that the animal is properly identified. The veterinary certificate of the animal shall contain an identification number (code) of ear stamp. The veterinary certificate shall be issued for a defined period and signed by the official veterinary issuing it and who has the authorisation to sign certificates and it must correspond to regulations on veterinary certificates of the Directive 96/93/ of the Council of Europe.
Products of animal origin in trade must be marked in a prescribed manner and followed by a prescribed veterinary-health certificate or certificate confirming health validity of products, i.e. that at the place of origin there was no evidence of certain contagious diseases and that other prescribed requirements are met. On the web site of the Veterinary Office of BiH (www.vet.gov.ba) the forms of various veterinary certificates can be found.
The Border Veterinary control is prescribed by Article 25 of the Law on Veterinary. The control, monitoring and coordination of the work of border veterinary inspection shall be conducted by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH through the Veterinary Office of BiH which coordinates the work of the border veterinary inspection and proposes regulations for determining uniform documentation for import, i.e. export of animals, raw materials, waste and products and animal origin waste and establishment of a unified information system of border veterinary inspection. The procedure of import in this area, as well as appearance and form of the request is regulated by the Rulebook on Conditions of Import and Transport of Live Animals, Animal Origin Products, Veterinary Medications, Cattle Food and Waste of Animal Origin in BiH (“Official Gazette of BiH”, No. 52/09 and 38/10).
The Veterinary Office determines veterinary-health conditions of import or transport by the decision for each individual shipment and country of origin. The list of acts can be found at the web site of the Veterinary Office. The import is possible only from the facilities that are entered into the Registry at the Veterinary Office. The Decision is issued based on a written request submitted on the forms in Annex I of the Rulebook. For the import of certain shipments it is not required to have the decision and the list of those products is given in Annex II of the Rulebook, on the condition that the shipments originate from registered facilities and that they do not originate in the countries for which the prohibitions of import to BiH are in effect. The list of border crossings these shipments can be imported through is given in Annex III of the Rulebook.
Entry into the Registry of Facilities
The request for entry of a facility into the Registry is filed on the form 5 in Annex I of the Rulebook, verified with the stamp of the party and signed by the authorised person. With the request the following documentation requires to be submitted:
a)a verified copy of the court decision on performance of activity for legal entities when filing the request the first time;
b)verified copy of decision on fulfilment of veterinary-health conditions for work of the facility the shipment is imported to in the case that the facility is subject to registration;
c)a copy of the decision on registration of the facility which is entered into Registry, issued by authorised body of the state where the facility is located or document proving that the facility has European control number and is on the list of registered facilities for trade within EU.
The documents written in foreign languages must have a verified translation into one of the BiH languages.
BiH signed a protocol with Montenegro and Serbia and with Croatia Agreement on Veterinary Cooperation and Mutual Exchange of Registries of Production Facilities. This means that, upon receipt of the request from these countries, the Veterinary Office checks the given facility with the authorised body in that country and accepts guarantees given by that body.
Issuing a decision on non-existence of veterinary-health obstacles to import
With the request for issuing of the decision on non-existence of veterinary-health obstacles to import, depending on the type of shipment, it is required to enclose the following documentation:
a)a verified copy of court decision on performance of the activity for legal entities when the request is filed for the first time, for all types of shipments;
b)a verified copy of decision on fulfilment of veterinary-health conditions for work of facility the shipment is imported to in the case the facility is subject to registration;
c)the opinion of an authorised official (authorised or appointed) veterinary on fulfilment of conditions prescribed by the Decision on Conditions and Duration of Quarantine for Imported Animals (“Official Gazette of BiH”, No. 54/04), and pertaining to conduct of quarantine of shipments subject to quarantine with accurately listed address of quarantine and unit capacity for certain type of animals in the case of import of live animals, except animals for slaughter;
d)a decision on closing quarantine of shipments per previous decision issued by authorised body;
e)the opinion of an authorised official (authorised or appointed) veterinary on fulfilment of veterinary-health conditions for holding fairs, exhibits, races, circuses and other permitted manifestations with the animals;
f)the record on completed veterinary-health examination from the border for all types of shipments;
g)the record on completed veterinary-health examination at unloading points of imported shipments from the previous decision, for all types of shipments;
h)the results of analysis of an authorised veterinary laboratory on hygiene validity of imported shipments per previous decision should the authorised official veterinary take samples for analysis in the case of imports of raw materials and products of animal origin and slaughter animals (residue);
i)the finding of an authorised veterinary laboratory on diagnostic examination conducted in quarantine, imported shipments from the previous decision, in the case of import of shipments of live animals except animals for slaughter;
The request for entry of a facility into the Registry is filed on the form 5 in Annex I of the Rulebook, verified with the stamp of the party and signed by the authorised person. With the request the following documentation requires to be submitted:
a)a verified copy of the court decision on performance of activity for legal entities when filing the request the first time;
b)verified copy of decision on fulfilment of veterinary-health conditions for work of the facility the shipment is imported to in the case that the facility is subject to registration;
c)a copy of the decision on registration of the facility which is entered into Registry, issued by authorised body of the state where the facility is located or document proving that the facility has European control number and is on the list of registered facilities for trade within EU.
The documents written in foreign languages must have a verified translation into one of the BiH languages.
BiH signed a protocol with Montenegro and Serbia and with Croatia Agreement on Veterinary Cooperation and Mutual Exchange of Registries of Production Facilities. This means that, upon receipt of the request from these countries, the Veterinary Office checks the given facility with the authorised body in that country and accepts guarantees given by that body.
Issuing a decision on non-existence of veterinary-health obstacles to import
With the request for issuing of the decision on non-existence of veterinary-health obstacles to import, depending on the type of shipment, it is required to enclose the following documentation:
a)a verified copy of court decision on performance of the activity for legal entities when the request is filed for the first time, for all types of shipments;
b)a verified copy of decision on fulfilment of veterinary-health conditions for work of facility the shipment is imported to in the case the facility is subject to registration;
c)the opinion of an authorised official (authorised or appointed) veterinary on fulfilment of conditions prescribed by the Decision on Conditions and Duration of Quarantine for Imported Animals (“Official Gazette of BiH”, No. 54/04), and pertaining to conduct of quarantine of shipments subject to quarantine with accurately listed address of quarantine and unit capacity for certain type of animals in the case of import of live animals, except animals for slaughter;
d)a decision on closing quarantine of shipments per previous decision issued by authorised body;
e)the opinion of an authorised official (authorised or appointed) veterinary on fulfilment of veterinary-health conditions for holding fairs, exhibits, races, circuses and other permitted manifestations with the animals;
f)the record on completed veterinary-health examination from the border for all types of shipments;
g)the record on completed veterinary-health examination at unloading points of imported shipments from the previous decision, for all types of shipments;
h)the results of analysis of an authorised veterinary laboratory on hygiene validity of imported shipments per previous decision should the authorised official veterinary take samples for analysis in the case of imports of raw materials and products of animal origin and slaughter animals (residue);
i)the finding of an authorised veterinary laboratory on diagnostic examination conducted in quarantine, imported shipments from the previous decision, in the case of import of shipments of live animals except animals for slaughter;
j)evidence of payment of charges for processing the requests for all types of shipments;
k)the administrative fee for all types of shipments;
l)specification of goods intended to be introduced, as listed in the table in Annex IV for import of medications used in veterinary service;
m)a document guaranteeing that the first neighbouring country in transit will allow transit of subject shipment.
The decisions are issued by the Veterinary Office, with the validity period being 120 days for all types of shipments and is valid only for shipments specified in the request. The decision contains conditions under which certain goods can be imported, i.e. which analysis and evidences are required for imports of a given shipment. The certificates accompanying the goods (and which are checked at the border) must prove that these conditions are fulfilled for the goods imported. The certificates must be issued by the competent body of the country the goods are imported from. Further, it is required to prove that the content of specific shipment which is imported correspond to information on shipment that are on certificates.
As far as export is concerned, it is possible to export from BiH only shipments from the facilities registered for export. The registration is done by the ministries of agriculture of the entities and Department of Agriculture of Brcko District.
Where required, when certain contagious diseases occur in certain countries, BiH introduces temporary measures of prohibition of certain shipments from these countries. These temporary measures may be found at web site of the Veterinary Office.
k)the administrative fee for all types of shipments;
l)specification of goods intended to be introduced, as listed in the table in Annex IV for import of medications used in veterinary service;
m)a document guaranteeing that the first neighbouring country in transit will allow transit of subject shipment.
The decisions are issued by the Veterinary Office, with the validity period being 120 days for all types of shipments and is valid only for shipments specified in the request. The decision contains conditions under which certain goods can be imported, i.e. which analysis and evidences are required for imports of a given shipment. The certificates accompanying the goods (and which are checked at the border) must prove that these conditions are fulfilled for the goods imported. The certificates must be issued by the competent body of the country the goods are imported from. Further, it is required to prove that the content of specific shipment which is imported correspond to information on shipment that are on certificates.
As far as export is concerned, it is possible to export from BiH only shipments from the facilities registered for export. The registration is done by the ministries of agriculture of the entities and Department of Agriculture of Brcko District.
Where required, when certain contagious diseases occur in certain countries, BiH introduces temporary measures of prohibition of certain shipments from these countries. These temporary measures may be found at web site of the Veterinary Office.