Back in late May 2010. I was in the admin phase of my departure from Kabul and had an amount of things to “take back home”. My employers (NATO/ISAF) gave a generous 50kg shipping allowance for personal effects, which I fell easily into BUT I had a small portable suitcase studio that I wanted to ship to Bosnia, rather than the UK where my personal effects would be delivered.

Off I went to the base DHL office, who said for the princely sum of US $236, they could ship direct to Banja Luka.

Now I have had the ultimate in shitty customs experiences before when shipping effects from Canada to Bosnia, where my clothes etc spent some 5 months in the customs sheds at Sarajevo airport while people decided about the rules, import duty etc etc. Finally everything WAS released but the duty I paid was, to say the least, rather High!

Shipping again but this time using DHL would be easier, less stressful, Right?

Wrong!

The shipment didn’t make Banja Luka to start with. Once again Sarajevo comes into play. Bosnian Customs asking for all kind of documentation (I have to point out here that there’s nothing of value, well intrinsic value, in the suitcase), but no! they want to know everything. I was waiting for them to ask for my inside leg measurement.

Again the total valued case (US $170) gets an import duty of 135 BAM (US $99), some 40-50% of the value!!!

Can this possibly be correct? On researching the web it seems Bosnians are almost united in their annoyance regarding 40-50% import duty.

But in this part of the world people power makes little difference as the country is still run by politicians of extremely dubious credentials and where “Back Hand Bribes” are still the way life goes round and round.

I am NOT saying Bosnian customs officials are corrupt.

But the following statistics for 2011 so far might just suggest …..

79.3% Bosnians and Hercegovinans pay in cash (a sum of 222 Euros average - 28% of the average wage), 14.5% pay in food & drinks, while 10.8% pay through other means. The remaining 2% do not recollect.

According to total calculation of all factors and to the corruption rates, the most corrupt nation in the Western Balkans is Bosnia and Hercegovina, with approximately 20.7% of the country corrupted.

Stats from Corruption in the Balkans, 2011 report

So, should you have gifts or anything else for friends, relatives, significant others in this beautiful country in the “Heart of the Balkans”, then wait till you can bring them yourself (or find a mule). The chances of a border crossing inspection is a lot less likely and you just MIGHT be able to “negotiate” any duty should it be asked for.

Me?

Well 135 BAM is being paid and I now wait to see if DHL will finally complete the “door to door” delivery.