Direct Producer Support Measures and Level of Harmonization with Common Agricultural Policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina

This paper aims to analyse the level, structure and number of direct payment schemes, the achieved level of harmonization with the common agricultural policy (CAP), and to point out the threats and challenges of the agricultural sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). The complexity of the political system in B&H has negative effect on the overall economic development of the country, and especially on sensitive sectors such as agriculture. As a result, agricultural policy in B&H shows great deviations from the foreseen objectives, which are often changed without clearly defined development goals. This is also reflected in the fact that direct support is the most important form of support for agricultural producers in B&H. In the structure of direct payments, considerably higher share of payments is per output than per hectare/livestock unit. Although B&H as a clear objective has European integration and harmonization of agricultural policy with the CAP, this process is slow, with no visible signs, without political readiness for faster improvement, and will in the future require significant changes