Bosnia and Herzegovina is a paradise for the import of mineral and natural waters, and it is clear from the trade exchange in this area where our country has been recording a very high deficit for years. In our country, which is proven to be rich in water and has all the conditions to meet the needs of the domestic market, as well as to export, the waters of foreign producers still dominate, Avaz news portal reports.
This is confirmed by the official list of recognized natural mineral and natural waters published by the Food Safety Agency of BiH. According to the Agency, during 2020, out of 26 recognized natural mineral waters in BiH, only seven are domestic.
The situation is better when it comes to recognized natural spring waters, where the number of domestic producers dominates. T
he president of the Association “Let’s buy and use domestic – quality produced in BiH” Admir Kapo told “Avaz” that the situation is similar in practically all industrial areas in BiH.
“The dominance of foreign shopping centers in the past has left its mark because they placed products from the countries they come from. More or less, that practice remains today. If you try to legally protect domestic producers, there will always be a loophole in the law and someone will say that we are violating some international regulations,” Kapo pointed out.
He added that the only thing left is to change the consciousness of the citizens, because the fight with foreign lobbies is a fight with windmills.
“We have absolutely no mechanism to protect the domestic market, at least in those industries where we have domestic products. All this has been going on for 25 years. Try to imagine that the citizens of BiH do not buy a single bottle of foreign water for at least one month, so all importers would automatically give up. That is the fastest way to strengthen our producers economically,” Kapo emphasized.