New dispute claimed in Albania, Kosovo trade

TIRANA, March 6 – Albanian and Kosovo have been involved in a new trade dispute in early 2014 with traders claiming Kosovo customs authorities have restored a Euro 40 tariff on trucks carrying goods to Kosovo. Traders exporting to Kosovo say the tariff, which in September 2013, paralyzed Albanian exports to Kosovo, is unaffordable and is becoming a barrier to increasing Albania-Kosovo trade exchanges. They claim no such tariffs are applied for imports from Serbia or Macedonia.
Reacting to the situation, the Kosovo customs administration denied the Euro 40 tariff charged by a private customs terminal in Prizren, has been restored.
“The claims of the truck drivers over the tariff are untrue and are being used by a small group of traders (importers from Kosovo) for personal purposes,” said the Kosovo customs administration.
Kosovo customs authorities say there is no return of the tariff, but simplified import procedures have been suspended until the relicensing process is completed. Several disputes over tariffs and barriers considerably affected trade exchanges between Albania and Kosovo in 2013 and for the first time in the past five years, Albania exports to Kosovo registered negative growth rates. Latest data published by the country’s Institute of Statistics, INSTAT, show Albanian exports to Kosovo in 2013, registered a slight decline affected by trade disputes over customs clearance tariffs and the ban of Albanian milk products in early 2013.
In 2013, Albanian exports to Kosovo dropped to 16.3 billion lek (Euro 114 million), down 6.2 percent compared to the same period last year.
Meanwhile, Albania’s imports from Kosovo during 2013 rose by 17 percent to 6 billion lek (Euro 42 million).
Kosovo ranks the third most important destination of Albanian exports in 2013 after Italy and Spain, accounting for 7 percent of Albanian exports.
Last August, several days of protests by Albanian and Kosovo traders forced the Kosovo government to lift the trade barriers imposed on Kosovo customs points for Albanian exports. Both Albanian exporters to Kosovo and Kosovo importers had been protesting new customs clearance procedures in some new private terminals which significantly increased costs making Albanian exports to Kosovo non-competitive. In March 2013, the ban of two Albanian milk brands in Kosovo because of slightly higher levels of potentially carcinogenic aflatoxin sparked a new trade dispute between Albania and neighboring Kosovo.
Back in 2012, both Albania and Kosovo were involved in trade disputes over reference prices on cement and potato exports.