Macedonian flour mill companies are demanding protection from the Government after Kosovo began blocking imports. Milling industry representative Goran Malisic says that Kosovo is the latest country to impose various restrictions on Macedonian flour, in violation of the CEFTA free trade agreement.

Kosovo began turning back Macedonian flour shipments reportedly because they lacked enough iron and folic acid. Malisic said that he situation has been going on for almost a month now, despite the fact that Macedonia has been exporting flour to Kosovo for 15 years. According to Malisic, the milling companies had the flour independently tested and determined that it met the minimum iron and folic acid requirements.

Similarly, Albania is blocking imports over the insufficient protein content – which Malisic says would require importing completely new types of grain. Serbia, on the other hand, subsidizes its producers making Macedonian flour uncompetitive.