The Bishop of Raska-Prizren Teodosije was turned back last week from the Kosovo side of the Jarinje crossing while traveling from the direction of Raska towards Gracanica. The Bishop was transporting two buckets of honey. As the Kosovo customs confirmed for KoSSev, the Bishop was not allowed to transport honey because he did not have a phytosanitary certificate.
Bishop Teodosije confirmed for KoSSev once again that the customs officers did not demand or ask anything from him and that they turned him back from the crossing without any explanation.
„Kosovo Customs considered the case and we concluded that the customs officers returned the person because he did not have a phytosanitary certificate,“ Kosovo Customs wrote in a short response to KoSSev, five days after we requested information about this event.
The KoSSev portal also asked the Kosovo customs about the obligation to respect the measures introduced to combat the COVID-19 outbreak, bearing in mind the allegations of Bishop Teodosije that the customs shift supervisor approached him without wearing a mask or respecting physical distancing measures. However, this question remained unanswered.
In a subsequent conversation, the spokesman of the Kosovo customs, Adriatik Stavileci, confirmed for KoSSev that a phytosanitary certificate is necessary when transporting food products, adding that religious institutions are not exempt from this measure.
Stavileci underlined that this rule applies regardless of the value of the imported products.
On the other hand, he confirmed that religious institutions are not obliged to pay customs duties when importing goods while emphasizing again that a phytosanitary certificate is mandatory.
„The church can also import donations, they do not pay duties. However, for food products, not only for the church, for any kind of food product, a phytosanitary certificate is needed,“ Stavileci explained.
Bishop Teodosije previously told KoSSev that this is the first time in 20 years he has been turned back from the crossing. He entered Kosovo the same evening only after returning to Raska where he left the buckets with honey. The car he was driving was searched both times. The Bishop also alleged that he felt a dose of animosity in the behavior of the Kosovo customs officer.
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Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
