Press Releases
Council of Ministers Holds Its 35th Session
01/16/2013
Vijeće ministara Bosne i Hercegovine
Within the of the Council of Ministers programme activities, it is scheduled for a set of draft laws agreed between political parties, making the parliamentarian majority at BIH level, to be considered.
The European integrations process will be the focus of activities of the Council of Ministers of BIH in 2013 - together with those aimed at overcoming consequences of the Republic of Croatia’s accession to the European Union - under which at least 72 documents were planned for adoption.
Activities towards a full membership in the NATO is one amongst priorities of the Council of Ministers of BIH, which will take an effort to fulfil in 2013 the one remaining condition for obtaining MAP, which is to solve the issue of registration of location of perspective military property.
The focus of work of the Council of Ministers of BIH will be maintenance of visa liberalisation, continuation of economic reforms and ensuring of compatibility of domestic economy with the European economic space, continuation of the public administration reform, improvement of safety of citizens and property, and enhancement of regional and cooperation with the international institutions.
Among planned proposal laws, there are: Law on BIH Customs Policy, Law on Prevention of Money and Financing Terrorism; Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on Classified Data Protection; Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on Border Control; and Law on Amendments and Supplements of the Law on Agriculture, Nutrition and Rural Development. A work group will be formed to develop Law on Veterinary, aiming the harmonisation with the relevant EU Directives.
For this year, the Council of Ministers of BIH plans to adopt a Strategy of BIH Road Transport Safety, Strategy for Fighting Forest Fires in BIH, BIH Strategy for Fight against Organised Crime in 2013-2015, as well as Strategy for Solving the Issue of National Minorities in BIH.
The Secretariat General will provide the Work Programme to the Parliamentarian Assembly of BIH.
The Council of Ministers of BIH considered a supplemented Report on preparations for the Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in BIH in 2013, and tasked the Agency for Statistics of BIH to provide to the Council of Ministers of BIH for its next session a Draft Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in BIH in 2013, to incorporate recommendations of the International Monitoring Mission on prolongation of the date of Census for six months.
The Council of Ministers of BIH designated Minister of Communications and transport Damir Hadžić to serve as a link between the Council of Ministers of BIH and Agency for Coordination of Preparatory Activities for the Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in 2013.
The Agency for Statistics of BIH is tasked to prepare and provide to the Council of Ministers of BIH an action plan with precisely set deadlines and holders of the activities on the preparation for the Census.
The session stressed a need for solving the outstanding issues, referring to disharmony of legal acts, unidentified inter-Entity border line, no single register of spatial units, including certain Census budgeting issues within the statistical institutes.
The Council of Ministers of BIH considered Information of the State Committee for Integrated Border Management in BIH on trilateral meeting of representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Croatia and European Commission on border management, held in Brussels on Dec. 19, 2012.
The Council of Ministers of BIH tasked the Directorate for European Integrations, as coordinator of all BIH Institutions’ activities, to prepare, taking into consideration all remarks and suggestions presented at the session, a material referring to the entry of the Republic of Croatia into the European Union, and on implications of it to Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will be discussed at the thematic session to be led in end January.
Upon a proposal of the Ministry of security, the Council of Ministers of BIH took a Decision on partial implementation of international restrictive measures set forth in the following UN Security Council resolutions: 1696 (2006), 1737 (2006), 1747 (2007)/1803 (2008), 1835 (2008), 1887 (2009), and 1929 (2010) imposed against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The restrictive measures concern certain natural and legal persons from Iran, designated in referred UN SC resolutions, and they include a ban of entry or transfer through the territory of BIH. Also, the restrictive measures include prevention of arms supply and fianncail restrictive measures.
The Council of Ministers of BIH defined a Proposal Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on Litigation before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which the Ministry of Justice will provide to the Parliamentarian Assembly of BIH, for the purpose of up-grading the existing Law and solving the issues arising from the practice.
The Amendments and Supplements to the Law define that the court, if, for the reason of exclusion or exemption of a judge, cannot act, take into consideration the residence of defendant and inform accordingly the supreme courts of the Federation of BIH, Republika Srpska and the Appellation Court of Brčko District, to order some other competent court act on the case.
This way, the Law includes an obligation stemming from a Decision of the Constitution Court of BIH from July 2012, concerning a delegation of competence and its adjustment to provisions of the Constitution of BIH and European Convention for Protection of Human Rights and Basic Freedoms.
The Council of Ministers of BIH defined a Proposal Agreement on Cooperation in Military Training between the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republic of Turkey, which the Ministry of Defence will provide to the Presidency of BIH, while Minister Zekerijah Osmić is proposed for Minister.
The Agreement refers, among other things, to training of officers, non-commissioned officers, soldiers, civil servants and civilians working in military institutions and units of the signatories.
Upon a proposal of the Ministry of Security, the Council of Ministers of BIH took a Decision on identifying the justifiable reasons of humanitarian nature for approving temporary residence to citizens of the Syrian Arabic Republic.
According to the Decision, a temporary residence of humanitarian nature may be approved to citizens of the Syrian Arabic Republic who had obtained visa for short stay in BIH (“C” Visa) and who entered Bosnia and Herzegovina until the Decision effectiveness date.
The temporary residence from humanitarian reasons might be obtained for one year period, the longest, and the procedure of approval will be carried out by the service for foreigners’ Affairs.
The Decision takes effect on the eighth day from its publication in the “Official Gazette of BIH”, and becomes invalid after one year time.
The Council of Ministers of BIH adopted Information of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on realisation of a Cooperation Programme between Bosnia and Herzegovina and NATO, which entails Individual Partner Programme (IPP), Individual Partner Action plan (IPAP), Planning and Revision Process (PARP), Membership Action Plan (MAP), and Partner Goals of BIH-NATO Cooperation.
The Council obliged all Ministries and Institutions of BIH participating in the programme implementation, to continue with realisation of their programme commitments, in line with their relevant competences.
Also, Information was adopted on the implementation status of an Agreement on Position of Foreign Military Forces PfP/NATO SOFA, and an expert team was charged to finalise the implementation of PfP/NATO SOFA, following determined dynamics, including the training of contact persons, the results of which should be reported to the Council of Ministers of BIH.
The Ministries tasked to amend laws and regulations for the purpose of implementation of PfP/NATO SOFA are obliged to finalise their tasks as soon as possible, according to a final list of legislative amendments and supplements required for implementation of PfP/NATO SOFA.
The Council adopted the 2012 Activity Report and Book of Rules of the Committee for BIH Integration Process into NATO.
In year 2012, BIH has successfully realised planned activities under IPP with a realistic percentage participation of 83%, as confirmed by NATO authorities.
Upon a proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, the Council of Ministers of BIH adopted a final report on negotiations in 2012 for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), with a proposal Road Map agreed with the WTO Secretariat in Geneva, aiming at furtherance of negotiations in 2013.
This way, Bosnia and Herzegovina wants to intensify negotiations with the World Trade Organisation, so that in 2013 two rounds of negotiations on all accession segments might be held, realising further advancement of the WTO accession process.
The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations and BIH negotiating team are obliged to report to the Council of Ministers on progress in WTO accession negotiations after closing each round of negotiations.
The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations should coordinate its activities with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to improve the process.
The Council of Ministers of BIH adopted a BIH CEFTA Presidency Programme for 2013, and Report of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations from the 6th meeting of the Joint Committee for Agreement on Amendment and Accession to Central European Free Trade Agreement, held in Tirana, on Nov.8, 2012.
The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations is requested to undertake, in cooperation with all other competent institutions, all needed activities for a consistent implementation of the conclusions from the Joint Committee meeting.
Also, as a holder of activities, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations will cooperate with all competent institutions to carry out all needed activities related to the presiding over CEFTA in 203, in accordance with the Presidency Programme and approved finances, within the 2013 Budget of BIH Institutions and International Obligations of BIH.
In the course of its presiding over CEFTA in 2013, BIH will continue with trade liberalisation, facilitating the trade by way of procedure simplification, elimination of unnecessary barriers, and transparency improvement in areas with direct or indirect effect to trade.
The Council of Ministers of BIH granted tis consent to a Regulation on Internal Organisation of the Secretariat of the State Aid Council, as proposed by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations for a consistent implementation of the Law on State Aid in BIH, which is one among conditions for further integration of BIH into the EU.
Upon a proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, the Council of Ministers of BIH adopted a regulation on marketing and use of animal food with a mark “E”, as a certificate of harmonisation with relevant EU regulations.
The Regulation provides for requirements for marketing and use of food for animals, to be used for food, including the requirements relating to marking, packing and presentation. The health safety is the responsibility of veterinarians, animal owners and other legal and natural persons, and it is governed by the BIH veterinary Law.
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