Expansion of chemical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industry domestically and abroad is significant factor in stimulation of medicinal, aromatic and spice herbs production in regions of FR Yugoslavia.

Along with growing economical development, everywhere in world general trend of returning to natural resources in nutrition and healing is becoming more dominant. In that respect production and usage of medicinal, aromatic and spice herbs are gaining in importance.

Production of medicinal, aromatic and spice herbs is extremely export oriented. For a number of years, 50% in average of total produced and bought quantities are exported from the area of FR Yugoslavia.

Export of medicinal, aromatic and spice herbs in FR Yugoslavia for a number of years is unstable, from aspect of exported quantities and money earned respectively. Exported quantities and export prices of these products traditionally fluctuate to a great extent. A number of factors influence this state of foreign trade, starting form natural conditions, including economical and political factors.

At the end, when speaking of export product's structure, raw materials are most common export article, than followed by teas. Products of higher degree of production are the least exported articles from the territory of FR Yugoslavia.

Key words: medicinal herbs, aromatic herbs, spice herbs, production, export, prices, market.

According to its terrain, orographic and hydrographic characteristics, the FR Yugoslavia belongs to the countries rich with flora. The flora includes almost all-official European kinds of medicinal herbs. Relatively small number of these herbs is examined by official medicine and their considerable number has not been scientifically examined from the medical aspect at all.

Considerable amounts of medicinal and aromatic herbs are collected in their natural deposits. However, uncontrolled wild medicinal and aromatic herbs collecting almost leads to extermination of some species, and in connection with it, we soon expect the law on medicinal herbs to be passed. For example, in the Republic of Serbia, 95 plant and animal species are protected, 63 species of which belong to medicinal herbs. Thus, in a few last decades, more attention was given to organised production of these herbs. For instance, dealing with medicinal and aromatic herbs does not consist of their collecting only, as it was before, but also of their organised production and processing.

Collected and processed quantities of medical, aromatic and spice herbs do not correspond to the needs of our chemical, pharmaceutical and food industries, where they are used as raw material for further process of production. Besides, foreign countries with developed chemical, pharmaceutical and food industries appear as important purchasers of medical, aromatic and spice herbs produced in the FR Yugoslavia. Probably, additional production would lead to better purchase. Thus, continuing production of satisfying range and quality is an objective, which we should to strive too.

Bearing in mind all these facts, in overall range of medical, aromatic and spice herbs production in the FR Yugoslavia in recent years, cultivated species of these herbs are more and more numerous comparing to wild ones. This is especially referred to the Republic of Serbia (ab. 1), where we can see that much more purchased herbs come from the organised production.

In the period of 1993-1999, production and purchase of medicinal, aromatic and spice herbs in the territory of the FR Yugoslavia amounts to around two thousand tons a year and individual sector of production is for many years the main source of purchased quantities of this group of products (almost 90% of all purchased quantities). This fact is an important index of the individual producers' interest in obtaining money from such a production (Tab.2).

In the territory structure of medicinal, aromatic and spice herbs' purchase in the territory of the FR Yugoslavia, the Republic of Serbia was participating with over 60% of the total amount of collected and purchased quantities in the beginning of 1990s. In recent years, this share is almost 90%.

When we speak about the organised, plantation-grown production of medicinal, aromatic and spice herbs, it is very important to pay particular attention to ecological conditions of the locality in which we produce herbs, meant for the production of essential oils. Namely, the demand for this oil is in continuous increase throughout the world. Bearing in mind the pedological and climate conditions of the Republic of Serbia, it is necessary to develop a program of reyonisation of plantation-grown production of medicinal and aromatic herbs of the Republic. In such a sense, the eastern territories of Serbia and Vojvodina are particularly interesting, as well as hills and mountains of the Republic.

Export of medicinal herbs from the FR Yugoslavia and the Republic of Serbia has been unstable for many years. A slight improvement of the realised quantities and realised profit in the period 1996-1997 gets an opposite trend in 1998 and especially in 1999 (the year of the NATO aggression in the FR Yugoslavia), (Tab. 3).

Similar to the recent years, mint has realised the largest currency income and the largest export quantities. It is followed by camomile, mallow, sage, linden flowers etc. However, in general, in the year of NATO aggression, the export of medicinal herbs from our territory decreased in quantity and in value for more than 40%.

The official data show that the export of medicinal, aromatic and spice herbs, as well as different sorts of tea and products of higher processing phase in the Republic of Serbia, has continuously decreased in recent years (Tab. 4). From the other hand, the very export structure has remained the same comparing to previous years. Namely, raw materials (products of the tariff group 121) are still leading according to realised profit, though their relative share in total realised profit has decreased from around 80% (in recent years) to only 57% in 1999. Even in that situation, products of the tariff group 121 are the only to realise a positive foreign trade balance of around 1.1 million $. Export of the other products is decreasing, both in quantity and in value. Besides, such fluctuations are, above all, the result of general political and economic situation in this territory, as well as of the attitude of the International Community towards the FRY.

During 1999, production and transfer of goods and capital were additionally influenced by the war, events preceding the aggression and conditions after seventy-nine-days'-long bombing of the FRY.

Leaving out 1999, as a year when import of medicinal, aromatic and spice herbs and high-processing phase products to the Republic of Serbia decreased for about 13% comparing to 1998, it has been slowly increasing for many years, especially in value. As it is expected, more than 80% of this import consist of high-processing phase products (Tab. 5).

Generally speaking, the costs of such an import to the Republic of Serbia in 1999, e.g. 12.4 million $, are more than six times larger than the income, the Republic of Serbia realises from the corresponding export (around 2 million $). In the very structure of the import, essential oil is present with more than 80% of the import value, which represents our needs.

Speaking about the import in 1999, the year of NATO aggression in the FR Yugoslavia, goods exchange with foreign countries decreased for 40% comparing to 1998 and 45% comparing to 1997. The export of such goods from the Republic of Serbia decreased for 18% comparing to the previous year and 53% comparing to 1997.

In the structure of medical, aromatic and spice herbs and high-processing level products export from the FR Yugoslavia (Tab. 5), a prominent place belongs to (as in all previous years) raw materials and spices, with total currency income of about 6.8 million $ in 1999. Income realised from the export of all other groups of product amounts to 1 million $.

Finally, total currency income from the export of mentioned goods in 1999 from the FRY was around 8 million $ and it was smaller for almost 20% comparing to 1998. The largest purchasers of our products are traditionally Germany, Italy, France, the USA, the Russian Federation etc.

In the field of medicinal, aromatic and spice herbs and high-processing phase product import to the FRY, the situation is slightly different. Namely, in the structure of the import, the most numerable are high-processing phase products (61% in 1999), and the increasing rate shown until 1998 has changed and decreased for 22.5% in 1999.

The very foreign trade balance of the mentioned goods (like in the previous years) show a deficit, though in 1999 it fell (about 13.6 million $) comparing to the past years.

Quantities, as well as export price of raw materials, traditionally show fluctuations. There are numerous factors, which influence them, from natural and economic to political conditions. In such sense, bearing in mind the period of the UN sanctions (since 1992), aggression in 1999 and many different natural and economic reasons, the FR Yugoslavia is still not competitive in the world's market and the income it realises from the mentioned products is very small, especially if we are familiar with its natural potentials, (Tab. 6).

The first activities to undertake in this field are enhancing the range of the organised plantation production and purchasing. Also, we need an organised presentation at the world's market, without, at least, domestic competition, which will provide better negotiation conditions and as a result, better prices. Starting from the researches carried out until now, the export of such products could reach 45-50 million $ annually, which is almost six times more than presently.

Finally, in future, we have to be oriented towards new technologies in production of high-processing level medicinal, aromatic and spice herbs in order to satisfy domestic needs and enhance the export. In such sense, we should build capacities, meant for the present and future larger range of production of such goods and raw materials, influencing, like that, enhancement of the range and level of processing and exchange, as well as elimination of import and improvement of export in this field.

1. Vukomanović L. etal. (1993): Economical Potentials of Growing Medicinal and Aromatic Herbs in Serbia, Institute for Agricultural Economics, Belgrade.

2. Vukomanović L., Maksimović S., and Stepanović B. (1991): Medicinal Herbs' Production in Serbia. Agriculture, 360-361, Belgrade.

3. Tošić V. (1997): Medicinal Herbs Foreign Trade. Medicinal Raws, 16, 1997, Belgrade.

4. Tošić V. and Tomić D. (1999): Agriculture, Aggression, Employment. Business Policy, June 1999, Belgrade.

5. FRY Foreign Trade Statistics for 1997, I part, (1998), FBS, Belgrade.

6. FRY Foreign Trade Statistics for 1998, I part, (1999), FBS, Belgrade.