Bosnia and Herzegovina – Almost Like Switzerland

At first glance, it might not seem so, but Bosnia and Herzegovina has quite a few similarities with Switzerland.

Starting with governance, both countries are decentralized and have multiple levels of government.

Switzerland has 26 cantons, each with its own parliament and government, plus federal authorities. It is smaller in area than Bosnia and Herzegovina but has nearly three times the population.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has two entities, one district, 10 cantons, a three-member presidency, two entity presidents, four parliaments, 13 governments, and a council of ministers. It has just over 3 million inhabitants, though it's hard to be certain since there hasn't been a census in 11 years. Even the results of that census were never officially confirmed.

Both countries need to secure significant funds to finance their extensive governmental structures. Let's look at the economic parameters according to worlddata.info (if necessary):

I’m not sure if these figures are entirely accurate, but the scale certainly is. It's clear who finds it easier to finance their institutional setup.

But what does all this have to do with chemicals?

The answer lies in another similarity: both countries have multiple official languages. In Switzerland, there are four official languages: German, French, Italian, and Romansh. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, there are three official languages that are referred to differently in various parts of the country.

According to the Constitution of the Federation of BiH, the official languages are Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian. According to the Constitution of the Republic of Srpska, the official languages are the language of the Serbian people, the language of the Bosniak people, and the language of the Croatian people. Both constitutions establish Latin and Cyrillic as official scripts.

With multiple official languages, the question arises of how to properly label chemicals and other products.

Unlike Switzerland, the languages in Bosnia and Herzegovina are very similar, some might even say identical. This is significant when it comes to chemicals.

According to chemical regulations, information on chemicals on labels is provided in ONE of the official languages. This is considered sufficient for adequately informing users, given the high similarity of the three languages.

The same applies to labeling other products, which is regulated by general trade and consumer protection laws. However, it's always necessary to check specific regulations for particular product groups.

In practice, combined labels intended for the Croatian and Serbian markets are often used for the Bosnian and Herzegovinian market. The text on the label is then marked as HR/BA(BiH) or SR(SRB)/BA(BiH). This saves space on multilingual labels and reduces costs.

However, keep in mind that there are specific details that must be listed separately for Bosnia and Herzegovina, primarily information about the importer.

Returning to Switzerland: there, chemical information must be provided in at least one official language in the region where the chemical is delivered. However, it is common practice to provide information in two languages.

Remember that in North Macedonia, information on chemicals and other products must be provided in two official languages.

If you have any questions about labeling chemicals, feel free to email me at nina.pajovic@bens-consulting.eu.