Montenegro 2008 Customs Revenue Up 20%

The customs agency's revenue from Value Added Tax was 392 million euro in 2008, up 27% compared to 2007, the agency said in a statement on Tuesday.

Customs duties contributed 70 million euro, up 7.0%.

The slower growth pace of customs duty revenue is connected to the implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the European Union and the CEFTA agreement, according to which no customs duty is charged on most goods, the statement added.

The tiny Adriatic state signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU, the first formal step for membership of the bloc, in October 2007 and applied for EU candidate status earlier this month.

The Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) came into force for Montenegro at the end of July 2007. The CEFTA regional initiative was undertaken by the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe and the European Union in December 2006,l creating a common market of some 29 million people.

Of the total customs revenue in 2008, excise income was 112 million euro, up an annual 27%, the agency said.

($=0.7134 euro)