The first ever oil spill response exercise held in in Bosnia and Herzegovina – Jul 30, 2021

The draft National Contingency Plan (NCP) of Bosnia and Herzegovina is reaching its maturity with full immersion and ownership by the competent authorities, who strengthened their knowledge through capacity building activities and exercises. A constructive dialogue was established to ascertain that the plan would be commensurate to the national needs and structure.

On 30 June and 1 July 2021, the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC) organized in Neum (Bosnia and Herzegovina) a National Tabletop Oil Spill Response Exercise “ExNeum 2021” within Bosnia and Herzegovina NCP development project, funded by the Mediterranean Trust Fund. 22 senior official from state, federal, cantonal and local authorities involved in the development of the NCP, actively participated in the exercise.

Participants implemented the knowledge acquired during a Workshop organised with the project (27-28 April 2021) and tested the communication and operational procedures defined in the draft NCP as a result of the First Meeting of the competent authorities in charge of the National Contingency Plan of Bosnia and Herzegovina (29 April 2021). The lessons learnt from “ExNeum 2021” were discussed by the second Meeting of the competent authorities in charge of the National Contingency Plan of Bosnia and Herzegovina (2 July 2021), the outcome of which will be integrated in a final draft NCP.

This effort will be complemented by the participation of  Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Sub-regional Workshop on the assessment of the level of oil spill response planning and readiness management, organised by REMPEC (7-8 September 2021).

Bosnia and Herzegovina is on its way to become the 19^th (out of 21) Mediterranean costal State, with a national contingency plan in place.