The Serbian Assembly today ratified the Free Trade Agreement in Southeast Europe (CEFTA). The agreement provides for the establishment of free trade in Southeast Europe by December 31, 2010, and the elimination of customs restrictions for industrial and agricultural products in the countries of the region no later than that date.
Opposing the ratification of the Agreement were representatives of the Serbian Radical Party, who did not participate in the voting, while 137 out of a total of 250 representatives in parliament voted for ratification. The agreement also provides for the liberalization of public procurement, stronger attraction of investments in the signatory countries, increases the possibility of joint participation in the European market under preferential, privileged procedures, and the export of products made from components from several CEFTA member countries. The agreement was signed on December 19, 2006, by Croatia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia, Montenegro, and UNMIK on behalf of Kosovo. (H)
