WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/LIC/N/3/HRV/4 
27 October 2009 
 (09-5330) 
Committee on Import Licensing Original:   English 
  
 
 
REPLIES TO QUESTIONNAIRE ON IMPORT LICENSING PROCEDURES
1 
 
Notification under Article 7.3 of the Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures  
 
CROATIA 
 
  The following communication, dated 23 October 2009, is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of Croatia. 
 
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Outline of system
 
 1.  As a rule, imports to the Republic of Croa tia are free with the exception of those imports 
specified in the national legislation (product affecting public  security and order, health, environment and 
cultural heritage). Products subject to import licensing are specified in the tariff and are imported under 
prior authorisation issued by th e competent ministry or authorised body. The licensing system is 
regulated by the Trade Act, Articles 58 a nd 59,  published in the “Official Gazette”  No. 87 on 25 July 
2008 and the Amendments of Trade Act published in the “Official Gazette” No. 116 on 11 October 
2008, and by  the Regulation Specifying Goods Subject to  Export and Import Li cences published in 
“Official Gazette”  No. 6 of 11 January 2009 and the Amendments of the  Regulation Specifying Goods 
Subject to Export and Import Licences published in the “Official Gazette” No. 79 on 24 June 2009.  
 
Purposes and coverage of licensing
 
 
2.  Licences are issued for the purpose of fulf illing international agreements, national security 
purposes, protection of life and health of human s, animals and plants, the environment and of 
exhaustible natural resources of the Republic of Cr oatia, protection of the public morality, import 
control of pieces of art and particular precious metals. 
 
 Import licences are compulsory for tanks, war vessels, military arms, revolvers, pistols, guns, 
parts and equipment for arms, ammunition, swords and sabers, nuclear reactors, radioactive materials, isotopes, derivatives, hydrocarbons, mint postage  stamps, gold, coins, iron tubes and bars.  
 
 The licences are issued by the Ministry of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship which is 
also the licensing authority for the import of substances depleting the ozone layer (Montreal 
Convention) and for import of chemicals liste d in the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) 
Schedules.  
                                                     
 
1 See document G/LIC/3, Annex, for the Questionnaire. G/LIC/N/3/HRV/4 
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   Drugs and medical products, gl ands and other organs, vaccin es, drugs, pharmaceutical goods, 
dialysis appliances, and narcotics are subject to li cences issued by the Ministry of Health and Social 
Welfare or by the Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices; imports of veterinary drugs and vaccines are licensed by the Ministry of Agri culture, Fisheries and Rural Development.  
 
 Import of rough diamonds into the customs terr itory of the Republic of Croatia is legally 
prohibited except if it is accompanied by the Kimb erley Process Certificate issued by the competent 
body of the exporting country. The certificates for the import of rough diamonds are verified by the Customs Authorities of the Republic of Croatia.  
The approval for the import of radio equipmen t and telecommunications terminal equipment 
is issued by the Croatian Post and Electronic Communications Agency.  
Licences for imports of armaments and military equipment for Croatian Army and Croatian 
Police are issued by the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of the Interior, respectively.    
 
 The State Office for Radiation Protection issues licences for the import of radioactive goods.  3.  The licensing regime applies e qually to imports from all countries. 
 4.  The licensing system is not intended to restrict  the quantity or value of imports but to protect 
national security, health, environment and cultural he ritage and to fulfil the Republic of Croatia’s 
commitments undertaken by the international agreements.  5.           Import licensing system is regulated by the Trade Act, Articles 58 and 59,  published in 
the “Official Gazette”  No. 87 on 25 July 2008 and the Amendments of Trade Act published in the 
“Official Gazette” No. 116 on 11 October 2008. 
  The system of licensing can be abolished or  changed by the Government without changing 
the Trade Act.   
(i) Licences for goods subject to tariff quotas are for certain agricultural products 
The licensing for these products is used to administer imports under tariff quotas.  The 
purpose of the licensing is to fulfil the commitment s undertaken by Croatia regarding preferential or 
free trade agreements.  The governmental body wh ich is responsible for issuing licenses for 
determined agricultural products is the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development.  The system applies to specified agri cultural products originating in the countries with which Croatia 
concluded preferential or free trade agreements.  Only  those agricultural products that are intended to 
be imported within tariff quotas are subject to import licensing.  The imports out of tariff quotas and exceeding tariff quotas are not subject to licensing procedures.   The issuing of licenses regarding tariff quotas for goods originating in the countries with which Croatia concluded preferential or free trade agreements is governed by the relevant decrees 
regulating the implementation of these agreements. 
  The executive branch can abolish this system without legislative approval. 
 
(ii) Import licenses for cereals 
 In Croatia, licenses are needed for import of cereals.  
  G/LIC/N/3/HRV/4 
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   The governmental body which is responsible for issuing of import licenses is the Ministry of 
Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development.       The licensing regime applies equa lly to imports from all countries. 
 
 The licensing regime is not intended to restri ct the quantity or value of imports. The purpose 
of licenses is to monitor trade flows in the cereals sector.   The executive branch can abolish this system without legislative approval. 
 Procedures
 
 
6.  For products under quantity restriction:  I.  Information on annual tariff quotas per count ry resulting from free trade agreements and 
conditions which must be fulfilled in order to  obtain import license for import within tariff 
quota, are published in the form of govern mental decrees in the "Official Gazette". 
 II.  The volume of tariff quotas is determined on an annual basis.  Licenses are issued in principle 
for the whole year; importers are not required to  apply for fresh license if the validity of the 
license is shorter than a year.  
   
III.  Licenses are issued to all importers on the same basis regarding criteria for allocation of 
certain shares of the amount of quota for dete rmined goods to certain importers.  Importers 
who are domestic producers of like goods are not excluded from allocation of quotas for such products. 
 
IV.   For tariff quotas which are allocated using a first come – first served  system, the application 
for licenses can be submitted throughout the y ear. For tariff quotas which are allocated using 
a different method, the applications for license s should be made between 1 December and 20 
December of the current year for import under tariff quotas in the following year. 
 
V.  The minimum time for processing the applications is 15 days.  
 VI.  The importation may take place immediately after the license has been issued.  VII.  The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development is the only authority 
responsible for the administration of tariff quotas and issuing of import licenses. The importer 
does not have to approach more than one administrative organ. 
 VIII.  As the majority of the tariff quotas are allo cated using a pro rata system, if the demand for 
licenses is higher than the available quota, th e allocation of quotas is carried out using a 
coefficient of proportional reduction.  New importers and newly founded companies are 
treated on an equal footing as all other importers.  
 IX-X.  Croatia is not a member of any such export restraint arrangements.  XI.   There are no products for which licenses for import within tariff quota are issued on condition 
that goods should be exported and not  sold in the domestic market 
 7.  When there is no quantitative limit on impor tation or no limit on importation from a particular 
country:  G/LIC/N/3/HRV/4 
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  (a)  There is no fixed time-limit for subm itting an application before importation; 
 (b)  A license cannot be granted immediately up on request. Prior review of the application is 
required; for import of cereals, the licenses are issued within 7 days. 
 
(c)  There are no limitations as to the period of the year during which applications can be made. 
 (d)   A license regarding import of cereals is i ssued only by one administrative body and it is the 
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development. The importer does not have to 
approach more than one administrative organ. 
 
8.  For non-agricultural products applications coul d only be rejected if the importer did not fulfil 
the conditions stipulated in interna tional conventions for specific goods or  did not meet standard criteria 
for the transportation of certain goods.    
 Licenses for import of cereals shall be issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and 
Rural Development according to particular request submitted by an applicant in seven days following 
the receipt of a complete request. If the Ministry  finds out in the administrative control that a 
particular request is incomplete or ineligible, the applicant shall be given a possibility to complete the 
request in 7 days following the receipt of the prim ary request. An importer denied an import license 
could file an administrative lawsuit with the Ad ministrative Court of the Republic of Croatia. 
 
Eligibility of importers to apply for licence
 
 
9.  All persons, firms and institutions are eligible to apply for licences.  
 Documentational and other requireme nts for application for a licence
 
 
10.  The application for import of certain produc ts has to provide the following information: 
 - Title and seat of the company, i.e. title and residence of natural person; - Company ID number, i.e. personal identity number for natural persons; 
- Title and seat of the end user with written Statement of End-Use for Goods; 
- Commercial description, quantity and value of the imported goods respectively; - Chemical description, structural formula and concentration for chemicals referred to in 
Annex III of Regulation;  
- Classification of nuclear material, nuclear content by weight, chemical and physical 
characteristics; radioactivity (Bq/kg); 
- CN Code; - Unit price; - Country of production; - Title and address of producer; - Importing country; 
- Title and address of the importing company; 
- Import deadline 
 
For import licenses of products under tariff quotas as well as import license for cereals, the 
application for import has to provide the following information: 
 
- Company name and  full address or  name and full address of person; 
- Company code; - Quantity of importing products ; - Tariff number and tariff code;   G/LIC/N/3/HRV/4 
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  - Import country. 
 
The importer is also required to supply ot her documentation depending on the products 
imported (weapons, munitions) such as end-user statemen t, contract and the material safety data sheet. 
 
For import under tariff quotas or import of cereals,  the importer is also required to supply 
other documentation such as evidence of the registrati on in the relevant registry (copy of the Decision 
of the registration in the Trade Court Registry), or iginal specimen of the certificate on fulfilment of 
financial obligations towards the state budget.   
11.  Upon actual importation the importer has to present to the customs authorities invoice, 
transport documents, specifications, customs declara tion, certification of origin and import licence.  
 12.  For non-agricultural products an administrative fee of HRK 125.00 is charged for each import licence. 
As regards import within tariff quota and import of  cereals, an administrative fee of HRK 70,00 
is charged for each tariff item number.    13.  There is no deposit or advance payment requirement regarding the issuance of licence except in 
case of import licenses for cereals. At the time of  submitting the application for an import license for 
cereals, the importers must pay the security in the amount of HRK 7,30 per tonne. The Ministry will 
reimburse the payment after 30 days from the date of license validity provided that the import has 
actually taken place.  
Conditions of licensing
 
 14.  For non-agricultural products in most cases th e import licence is valid for six months during 
which it has been granted. The validity of a licen ce could be extended upon request of the licence 
holder except for weapons and narcotics.   In case of import of cereals the validity of a licence is 60 days from the licence issuing date.  
15.  There are no penalties for the non-utilizati on of a licence or a portion of a licence. The 
exception is import of cereals where the penalty for non-utilization of the license is the retention of 
the deposit lodged at the time of application.  16.  Licences are not transferable to other importers. 
 
17.  There are no other conditions rela ted to the issuance of a licence.  
 
Other procedural requirements
 
 
18.  No other administrative procedures are required. 
 
19.  The foreign exchange issues are not applicable to import licensing.   
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