BOSNIAN COURT RULES CEFTA-VIOLATING LAW

UNCLAS SARAJEVO 000802 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SCE, DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO USTR, TREASURY FOR SCHMERIN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ETRD BK SUBJECT: BOSNIAN COURT RULES CEFTA-VIOLATING LAW UNCONSTITUTIONAL REF: SARAJEVO 729 ¶1. (U) Based on a complaint brought by the President of the BiH House of Peoples, the Constitutional Court on July 3 temporarily declared unconstitutional a law on domestic protection until it has time to study the law in detail. The law intended to protect domestic agriculture producers by taxing imports from Serbia and Croatia. By its action, the Court prevented the law from entering into force until it makes a final ruling at its next session, most likely not before September. It is expected that the Court will ultimately find the law unconstitutional, as it violates provisions of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) (reftel). ENGLISH