INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS PAGES
Textile & Footwear Industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Long Tradition and an International Reputation
clothing and footwear whose area of
work is predrafting, definition of draft
and proposal of BH (BAS) standards
and the application of international pro-
cedures for taking over international,
European and national standards in the
field of textile, leather and footwear in-
dustry. On the Institute’s website, it is
possible to find all BiH standards that
have been adopted by TC48.The textile and footwear industry in BiH
has a long tradition of manufacturing
and cooperation with the world’s larg-
est brands. Possessing capacities and
enjoying a reputation as a supplier of
textiles and footwear, primarly, in Ger-
man and Italian market. The textile,
leather and footwear industry, as a sig-
nificant segment of the BH process-
ing industry, is working intensively and
employs mostly female labor force
(more than 80%). This way it contrib-
utes to alleviating the unemployment
problem and encompasses various
products, semi-finished products and
materials for further production, such
as:
-Professional Associations
In July 2011, the Foreign Trade Cham-
ber of Bosnia and Herzegovina estab-
lished the Association of Producers,
Processors and Traders of Textile,
Clothing, Leather and Footwear in BiH
(Association T.O.K.O.)
production of textile yarns and fab-
rics,
-production of clothes, finishing and
dyeing of fur,-
-production and processing of
leather, manufacture of haberdash-
ery and footwear.Bearing in mind the potential of this
sector and unused opportunities, BiH
has significant resources to attract
foreign companies which want to relo-
cate their production or a part of it
closer to their main markets and which,
this way, can provide short delivery
time for European merchants.The most important benefits and po-
tentials of the sector are:
-The proximity to a sales market (pri-
marily Western and Eastern Eu-
rope),
-To a significant extent, modernized
production capacities,
-Real low tax burdens, expenses
and other production costs.More efficient use of projects
funded by the State and the EU
Standardization and Certification
-Export tradition and export orien-
tation an acquired experience in co-
operation with EU partners as an
opportunity for the transfer of knowl-
edge, experience and technology,There is no legal regulation in this area.
About 10% of BH companies in the
textile, leather and footwear sector
have fullfiled some of the standards
(ISO 9001- Quality Management Stan-
dards). In BiH, there are four compa-
nies that offer certified products ac-
cording to the green certification of
Oekotex Standard 100 , while none are
certified as Eco Lable. There is no do-
mestic green certification of textile and
leather products.
-Increasing production and strength-
ening the partnership in the chain
of higher price and brand develop-
ment,Within the framework of the Institute
for Standardization of Bosnia and
Herzegovina, there is the Technical
Committee (TC48) for textiles, leather,The real still unused opportunities of
the sector are:
NCM-MARCH 2020
63Companies from this sector in the Re-
public of Srpska are gathered in the
Textile, Leather and Footwear Associa-
tion within the Republic of Srpska
Chamber of Commerce. This associa-
tion is the basic form of organization
and work of the members of the Cham-
ber of Commerce of the Republic of
Srpska in the field of textiles, leather
and footwear. Chamber associations at
the Entites, as well as at the cantonal
level, exist in the Federation of BiH.
The Association of textiles, footwear
and leather in Bosnia and Herzegovina
(U.T.O.K.) was formed in 2006 as a non-
governmental, non-profit organization,
whose goals are to support and improve
the development of the textile, footwear
and leather industry. The field of activ-
ity of the U.T.O.K. is the whole BiH.
U.T.O.K. has cooperation with similar
associations in other countries, as well
as with the Euratex organization that
brings together textile producers from
across the EU.
Workers employed in this industrial
branch also join trade unions (labor
union of workers of textile, leather, foot-
wear and rubbers of BiH, trade union