Trade regime
WTO status and membership in other trade associations | |
The Republic of Serbia is in the process of accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the majority of national regulations are harmonised with the WTO rules and principles. | |
Laws and regulations | |
Foreign trade regime is governed by the Law on Foreign Trade Transactions, which is harmonized with the WTO rules and principles and the European Union (EU) legislation. Foreign trade is free and may be restricted only in exceptional cases, in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Foreign Trade Transactions and WTO rules and principles. Accordingly, upon the proposal of the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications or other competent authority, the Government of Serbia may introduce measures affecting foreign trade in goods only for the purposes of protection of public morals, human, animal or plant life and health, artistic, historic and archaeological treasures, non-renewable natural resources, security protection, and other objectives in line with the WTO rules. If such measures provide for issuance of a specific document as a condition for import, export or transit of goods, the list of such goods is published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia. The Decision on Determining Goods Subject to Issuance of Specific Documents on Importation, Exportation and Transit provides lists of goods subject to such measures (licences, approvals), according to the authorities competent for issuing documents. Foreign trade regime is governed by the Law on Foreign Trade Transactions, which is harmonized with the WTO rules and principles and the European Union (EU) legislation. Foreign trade regime is governed by the Law on Foreign Trade Transactions, which is harmonized with the WTO rules and principles and the European Union (EU) legislation. Foreign trade is free and may be restricted only in exceptional cases, in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Foreign Trade Transactions and WTO rules and principles. Accordingly, upon the proposal of the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development or other competent authority, the Government of Serbia may introduce measures affecting foreign trade in goods only for the purposes of protection of public morals, human, animal or plant life and health, artistic, historic and archaeological treasures, non-renewable natural resources, security protection, and other objectives in line with the WTO rules. If such measures provide for issuance of a specific document as a condition for import, export or transit of goods, the list of such goods is published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia. The Decision on Determining Goods Subject to Issuance of Specific Documents on Importation, Exportation and Transit provides lists of goods subject to such measures (licences, approvals), according to the authorities competent for issuing documents. | |
Institutions | |
For more information on responsible institutions, please see section: Licensing. | |
Export and Import | |
The Republic of Serbia applies a limited number of prohibitions related to the importation and exportation of: specific types of hazardous waste (for imports only), prescribed chemicals, certain substances that deplete the ozone layer, specific protected wild plant and animal species, and certain goods for the purposes of protecting animal and plant health. For more information on licences and approvals for import, export and transit of goods, please see section: Licensing. The level of customs duties for goods imported to Serbia is prescribed by the Law on Customs Tariff. Preferential regime applies to trade with the EU, CEFTA 2006 signatories, EFTA economies (Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland), Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Kazakhstan. Certain agricultural products are subject to additional customs duties in the specified period (seasonal customs duties), in accordance with the Decision on Seasonal Customs Duties on Imports of Certain Agricultural Products. In addition, imports of specific agricultural and food products are subject to special duties per unit of measure, and the list of such products and amounts of duties are provided in the Decision on Determining Agricultural and Food Products Imported Subject to Special Duty and on the Amount of Special Duty. Imported goods and services are subject to the payment of value added tax (VAT) and excise taxes (in case of excise goods), in accordance with the Law on VAT and Law on Excise Tax. For imported goods, VAT base is the value of imported goods determined according to customs regulations and increased by the amount of excise tax, customs duties and other import duties, and also by the amount of incidental expenses incurred prior to first destination of goods in Serbia. The general VAT rate is 18%, while certain products prescribed by the Law on VAT are subject to special rate of 8%. | |
Contact | |
Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications of the Republic of Serbia: Bulevar Mihajla Pupina 2, 11000 Beograd, Serbia Phone: +381 11 3113 432, fax: +381 11 3114 650 Website: http://www.mtt.gov.rs/ Sector for Foreign Trade Policy, Multilateral and Regional Economic and Trade Cooperation Nemanjina 22-26, 11000 Beograd, Serbia Phone: +381 11 2642 114, +381 11 363 1152 |