Bosnian court suspends law seen as violating trade pact, EU commitments

(SARAJEVO) - A Bosnian court said on Saturday it had temporarily suspended a recently adopted law on protection of domestic production seen as violating a regional trade pact and the Balkan country's commitments toward the EU.

The Constitutional Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina decided to suspend the law on the request of the chairman of the upper house of the country's parliament Ilija Filipovic, it said in a statement.

The law will be suspended until the court reaches a final decision on Filipovic's motion at one of its coming sessions.

The controversial law imposing higher customs duties on nearly 1,000 items was passed by parliament earlier this month despite strong opposition from the European Union and Bosnia's neighbours.

The EU said the law violated the Central European Free Trade Association accord (CEFTA) reached by the Balkan countries in 2006 with the aim of boosting regional trade and preparing members for the EU single market.

It also said the law violated Bosnia's commitments under the Stabilization and Association Agreement, essentially a trade and aid pact with EU seen as the first step for western Balkan nations hoping to join the bloc.

The law was expected to particularly affect neighboring Croatia, whose exports to Bosnia last year came to around 1.7 billion euros (2.4 billion dollars).

Croatia tops the list of leading exporters to Bosnia followed by Serbia.