At the meeting of the Chamber of Commerce of Kosovo and that of Serbia today in Skopje, Kosovo will demand the removal of the barriers that Serbia has placed against "Made in Kosovo" products for years, the chair of Kosovo Chamber of Commerce, Lulzim Rafuna, told Radio Kosova.

"The meeting is held with the mediation of the Economic Chamber of North Macedonia, but the officials of the European Commission and the officials of the German Government who are also founders of the Initiative within the Berlin Process will be present," said Rafuna, while praising North Macedonia’s role in the process.

He said that on Wednesday in Skopje he was hosted by the president of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski.

The regular meeting of the Management Board of the Chambers of Commerce of the Western Balkans is taking place in Skopje. The board of this mechanism established in the framework of the Berlin Process, as of February this year, is led by the President of the Chamber of Commerce of Kosovo, Lulzim Rafuna, who has succeeded Serbia’s chairmanship of the board.

The Investment Forum of the Chambers of Commerce of the Western Balkans, as it is known, was created within the Berlin Process and is supervised by senior officials of the German Government and those of the European Commission.

The meeting that started yesterday and continues today, is regular, says the chairman of the Management Board of the Western Balkan Chambers of Commerce, Lulzim Rafuna, in an interview with Radio Kosova.

He emphasized that he has proposed that the next meeting of this mechanism be held in Prishtina.

Rafuna said he raised the concerns regarding the barriers that Serbia has set up for years and years for products and goods from Kosovo.

As far as today’s meeting is concerned, Rafuna said he was optimistic.

"Today's meeting is not only a bilateral meeting between the Chamber of Kosovo and that of Serbia, but it is a wider meeting where the representatives of other Chambers of the Western Balkan countries, as well as the officials of the German state and those of the European Commission, are also participating. "

"Today's meeting is also a golden opportunity, as the Management Board of the Western Balkans Chambers of Commerce has been led by Kosovo since February, and this offers the opportunity to raise awareness of all existing concerns."

Regarding the concrete obstacles and barriers placed by Serbia for Kosovo's goods, Rafuna says:

"The main obstacle and barrier is the obstruction of the export of Kosovo's products to Serbia. These concerns were raised daily by the producers of Kosovo, who come to the office of the Chamber of Commerce of Kosovo. For instance, Kosovo beer is not allowed to be exported to Serbia for the sole reason that the beer label says "Made in Kosovo". There is a huge demand from many companies in Serbia for the import of Kosovo beer, but this is hindered by the Serbian Government. The same obstacles exist for the production of other non-carbonated liquids. The producers of these products themselves have raised the concern that they can only export to Serbia two days a week, since Serbia keeps its inspectors at the border for only two days, while Kosovo keeps its inspectors 24 hours a day, seven days a week at the border crossings. So now, they either have to put their inspectors at the border like we do 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or we put our inspectors like them only two days a week so they can't export either other days in our country".

Another obstacle from Serbia, according to Rafuna, is the non-recognition of phytosanitary and veterinary certificates.

"This greatly penalizes Kosovar producers and companies, so that they cannot export their goods to the Serbian market."

There are also many other problems of an administrative nature like when Serbian officials at the border delay cargo loads for days, says Rafuna:

"They keep Kosovar goods for days at the customs terminals with justifications for the alleged lack of various analyzes of the goods, automatically increasing the cost of Kosovar products and consequently making it much more expensive for Kosovar products to enter the market Serbia".

"All these obstacles will be raised today and we will make efforts to remove them", the chair of the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce, Lulzim Rafuna, told Radio Kosova.