With the aim of strengthening regional cooperation and harmonizing standards in the postal services sector, a delegation consisting of representatives of the CEFTA Working Group on Inter-Party Parcel Delivery, postal regulatory authorities, and national standardization bodies visited Brussels from November 5 to 7, 2025.

The focus of the visit to the headquarters of the European standardization committees CEN and CENELEC, organized within the GIZ EU4Trade and CEFTA project, was on the standardization of postal services. The main objective was to familiarize representatives of relevant administrative bodies and standardization institutes with the process of developing, adopting, and implementing European standards in the postal services sector. Special emphasis was placed on the work of Technical Committee CEN/TC 331, Postal services.

The visit was a direct result of the initiative of the GIZ project team “Consultancy for Technical Assistance for the Implementation of Regulatory and Non-Regulatory Aspects of the CEFTA Joint Committee Decision on Inter-Border Parcel Delivery.” During the three-day visit, participants also held the first official meeting of the CEFTA Working Group, dedicated to the non-regulatory measures of the Joint Committee Decision (JCD).

The visit to the CEN/CENELEC headquarters took place on November 7. Participants were welcomed by CCMC officials, Ms. Joanna Frankowska, Account Manager, and Mr. Bruno Gadal, Director for Standardization at Geopost and Chair of CEN/TC 331, who shared his experience working with standards crucial for the modernization of the postal sector.

The following topics were presented:

• Establishment and strategic framework of CEN/TC 331 and operational challenges in managing this Technical Committee.
• Benefits of standards for stakeholders in the market.
• Current status and planned revisions of the standards referenced in the JCD, with a focus on the standard for measuring the quality of postal services.
• EN 17837:2023, which defines the methodology for calculating and declaring greenhouse gas and air emissions.

The study visit and the meeting of the CEFTA Working Group in Brussels represent an important step in implementing the non-regulatory measures of the JCD, ensuring that postal service markets in the region implement the latest European standards, thereby improving service quality and facilitating regional trade.

Participants of the study visit representing the Institute for Standardization of Bosnia and Herzegovina were: Nedim Moranjkić, Chair of BAS/TC 67 Postal and Logistics Services, Quality Advisor at the Agency for Postal Traffic of BiH, and Miljan Vasković, Technical Secretary of BAS/TC 67 Postal and Logistics Services, Associate at the Institute for Standardization of BiH.