TIRANA, Jan. 22 – Albania and Kosovo are cooperating to set up a joint transit corridor that will ease trade exchanges between the two countries and the region but also minimize tax evasion and smuggling.
The deal was discussed this week during a meeting Albania’s customs director Elisa Spiropali had with her Kosovo counterpart Lulzim Rafuna.
“The Albanian government is committed to establishing a modern infrastructure in the Morine-Vernice customs point with Kosovo which will be made operational this year with the support of the EU and the state budget,” said Spiropali.
The Albanian customs administration has also initiated simplified procedures on big Albanian companies engaged in imports and exports, eliminating physical customs clearance through online procedures.
“This is very important to exports especially for those to Kosovo, eliminating border controls and reducing costs,” says Vilma Nushi, the administrator of Marketing and Distribution, one of the biggest companies in Albania and the first to have been offered the so-called online customs clearance service.
Ongoing trade disputes between Albania and Kosovo have considerably curbed trade exchanges between the two neighbouring countries in the past couple of years. The latest dispute erupted last October when Albanian food authorities temporarily banned the import of flour from Kosovo because of allegedly not meeting the required protein content, causing considerable damage to Kosovo traders, considering that flour accounts for around 15 percent of total Kosovo exports to Albania.
Back in 2013, Albania also temporarily banned the entry of Kosovo flour to Albania in retaliation for the ban of Albania milk to Kosovo due to alleged higher toxic and carcinogenic substances known as Aflatoxins.
A study by Kosovo’s GAP Institute for Advanced Studies says the latest incident unveils lack of communication and coordination between Albanian and Kosovo authorities despite trade facilitation deals signed between the two governments in a joint meeting in Prizren in January 2014.
“The harmonisation of legislation on the quality and safety of food products, as evidenced in the case of flour is essential for the trade exchanges between the countries. The implementation of same standards takes much more importance considering that plant and food products account for a considerable share in bilateral trade,” says Kosovo’s GAP Institute, recommending the immediate establishment of joint working groups on the harmonisation of legislation, and testing methods.
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’s exports to Kosovo registered negative growth rates. 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).
However, Albanian exports to Kosovo recovered in the first 11 months of 2014, registering a 10 percent increase, and ranking Kosovo as the second most important destination of Albanian exports after Italy.
