Bosnia-Hercegovina: Establishment of the State Veterinary Border Inspection Service

Under the previous establishment, veterinary border inspections were a shared responsibility by three veterinary departments (two entities and one district). A single veterinary border inspection service should contribute to better protection and control of public and animal health, as well as a more efficient veterinary sector.

The Bosnia and Herzegovina national-level Government just adopted a decision on establishing a state-level border veterinary inspection under the authority of the State Veterinary Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is under the authority of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations.

Before this, three different competent authorities were in charge for the veterinary border inspection--the two Entity Agricultural Ministries and the Agricultural Department of the Brcko District; and they provided inspectors for this purpose.

This decision will result in more effective implementation of the new Veterinary Law («Official Gazette of BiH» 34/02) that aims to unify the veterinary services in BiH and make the State Veterinary Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina an umbrella organization for the veterinary sector. A single veterinary border inspection should contribute to protection and control of the public and animal health and more efficient functioning of the entire veterinary sector.

The State Veterinary Office will define the structure and responsibilities of this unified border veterinary inspection and make it operational within 90 days. This decision matches well with USDA supported "National Quarantine Station Project”, which is being implemented through a private voluntary organization "Partners for Development”. The Projects goals are the development of the state border inspection regulations, construction of two modern border inspection posts at selected border crossings, and provision of technical and institutional support for the management of border inspection posts.

Background

Under the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, Bosnia Herzegovina (BiH) is divided into two ‘Entities’: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (F BiH) and Republika Srpska (RS). Both Entities have a Ministry of Agriculture.

There is also the District of Brcko, established by a separate international agreement in 2000, which has a special administrative status and its own Agriculture and Forestry Department. Veterinary competencies are divided and these three independent parallel organizations function within the same country, each operating in their respective territories.

The State Veterinary Office was designed three years ago to act as an umbrella organization, but it is still insufficiently recognized by the Entities, while the international community recognizes it. In 2002, a common state-level veterinary law was adopted with an intention to bring different veterinary services under the same roof, and the law is yet to be enforced completely