Pesticide Registration in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Limited Circulation Certificates

Agriculture in Bosnia and Herzegovina is predominantly characterized by small-scale farming, creating opportunities for large enterprises to integrate, absorb, and acquire existing primary producers and processors.

The country’s abundant land and water resources, coupled with favorable climatic conditions, provide notable advantages in vegetable cultivation, field crops, livestock breeding, and aquaculture. These factors also establish a solid foundation for the growth of the food processing industry.

In its pursuit of EU membership, Bosnia and Herzegovina has gradually adopted EU standards across various sectors, including food, health, and manufacturing. This creates a clear framework for cooperation for Chinese companies seeking to invest in the country, but also requires them to conduct thorough market research beforehand.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a member of the United Nations and the European Energy Community. Although it has not yet joined the World Trade Organization, its EU accession process has been steadily progressing since it applied in February 2016. In December 2022, Bosnia and Herzegovina was granted candidate status for EU membership, and in March 2024, the European Commission recommended the initiation of accession negotiations.

According to trade data, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s main export commodities in 2021 included base metals and their products, electromechanical products, mineral products, chemical products, and wood products.

The country’s primary imports covered similar areas, with the addition of food, beverages, tobacco, and alcohol. Bosnia and Herzegovina possesses the natural conditions for diversified agricultural development and has a long history in the food processing industry.

However, agricultural land accounts for only 42.2% of the total area, approximately 2.39 million hectares, with 1 million hectares dedicated to intensive cultivation. Additionally, there are 1.04 million hectares of natural grasslands and pastures, and 350,000 hectares allocated to orchards, vineyards, and the cultivation of herbs and spices.

Currently, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s dairy products, fruits, vegetables, and other agricultural products are capable of being exported to the EU. Additionally, the cultivation of aromatic plants, such as immortelle, in the southern region demonstrates significant commercial potential.

In this context, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s pesticide registration policy plays a crucial role. Its regulatory framework and requirements have a notable impact on agricultural production and the pesticide supply chain, warranting thorough study and attention.

So far, only 182 pesticide products have been approved for circulation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, involving 39 companies. Conventional chemical pesticides dominate the market, with 181 products, accounting for 99.45% of the total. There is only one biological pesticide, making up just 0.55%.

This biological pesticide, produced by Probelte S.A.U., is Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner var. kurstaki. It was registered in March 2023 and is valid until March 2028.

Data source: Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry

Data time: October 21, 2024

From an enterprise perspective, the pesticide registration market in Bosnia and Herzegovina is highly concentrated. Twelve companies, each with more than six registered products, account for 73.08% of the market and control nearly 70% of the pesticide circulation registration certificates.

These companies are based in China, Turkey, Serbia, Germany, India, the United States, Poland, and Spain, with China, Turkey, Germany, and Serbia each having two companies on the list.

It is noteworthy that multinational giants such as Syngenta, Corteva, and Adama do not have product registration records in the Bosnian market. In contrast, the two German companies, Bayer and BASF, have secured a share of the market due to their strong presence in Europe. The two Chinese companies listed are Flag and China National Chemical Construction Jiangsu Company.

Among these companies, Decision Kim. Mad. And Mr. Ilc. St. Tic AS from Turkey ranks first with 28 registered products, accounting for 15.82%, followed by Bayer, which ranks second with 1 product, accounting for 14.84%. These two companies are the only ones with a registration share exceeding 10%. Brandt Tragus from Spain and BASF from Germany rank third and fourth, respectively, each with more than 10 registered products. However, their total number of products is still significantly lower than that of the top two.

Data source: Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry

Data time: October 21, 2024

After classifying the 182 registered products by pesticide dosage form, the top ten forms are: capsule suspension、water soluble powder、emulsion.oil in water、granule、oil-based suspension concentrate、soluble concentrate、wettable powder、suspension concentrate、water dispersible granule and emulsifiable concentrate.

Among these, emulsifiable concentrate lead with 40 products, accounting for 21.98%; water dispersible granule follow closely with 39 products, representing 21.43%; and suspension concentrate have 37 products, making up 20.33%. Together, these three dosage forms account for over 60% of the market share, highlighting their significant presence.

In addition, the top ten dosage forms accounted for 93.41% of the total registered product volume, showing a highly concentrated trend in dosage form distribution. At the same time, the trend of pesticide formulations developing toward liquid or soluble products is becoming increasingly obvious, and this change continues even in the Bosnia and Herzegovina market, which has a small number of pesticide registrations.

Data source: Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry

Data time: October 21, 2024

From the perspective of pesticide product categories, traditional fungicides, insecticides, and herbicides dominate the Bosnia and Herzegovina market, with a total of 169 registration certificates, accounting for 92.86%. Among them, fungicides lead with 92 products, representing 50.55%; insecticides follow with 46 products, making up 25.27%; and herbicides rank third with 31 products, accounting for 17.03%. Plant regulators grows and Acaricide share the fourth position, each with 8 products, accounting for 4.40%. Nematicides, Other categories, and Molusocid occupy the fifth to eighth positions, respectively.

In many countries, it is common for a single product to be registered as both a fungicide and an insecticide, or as an insecticide and acaricide. However, in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s pesticide registration, one product stands out: Metam sodium from Brandt Tragus of Spain. This is the only product labeled as an insecticide, fungicide, herbicide, and nematicide, highlighting its broad functionality and making it unique in the market.

Data source: Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry

Data time: October 21, 2024

Due to the limited number of pesticide products in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the categories with more than five active ingredients among the registered products include abamectin, azoxystrobin, folpet, pyraclostrobin, acetamiprid, boscalid, deltamethrin, copper preparations, fosetyl-aluminum, sulfur, and tebuconazole. These ingredients are involved in 74 circulation registration certificates, accounting for 40.66%.

Among them, tebuconazole ranks first with 10 registered products, accounting for 5.49%; sulfur follows in second place with 9 registered products, representing 4.95%; fosetyl-aluminum and copper preparations tie for third place, each with 8 registered products, accounting for 4.40%; deltamethrin ranks fourth with 7 registered products, representing 3.85%; acetamiprid and boscalid share fifth place, each with 6 registered products, accounting for 3.30%; and abamectin, azoxystrobin, folpet, and pyraclostrobin tie for sixth place, with 5 registered products each, making up 2.75%.

Data source: Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry

Data time: October 21, 2024