Farm statistical surveys in Republika Srpska: why you get a call and what to answer

If an interviewer from the Republika Srpska statistics office phones you in December and asks about your animals, areas or yields, this is the regular annual statistical survey, not an inspection.

In short

• According to the 2025 methodological guides, the Republički zavod za statistiku (RZS, Republika Srpska Institute of Statistics) surveys farms by phone in December: livestock and crops from 1 to 15 December, organic production from 15 to 25 December. The 2026 guides have not been published yet. The RZS work plan for 2026 sets 15 December as the data deadline for all three surveys.
• Family farms are drawn at random from the Address Register of Agricultural Holdings (Adresar poljoprivrednih gazdinstava). For the 2025 livestock survey, 3,310 family farms were selected, and each selected farm stands for about 40 others.
• The RZS work plan for 2026 lists the sampled family farms among those who must provide data. The Law on Statistics (articles 8 and 31) sets a fine of 50 to 1,700 KM for an individual who does not give data or gives false data.
• The 2025 livestock survey guide (point 1.9), however, says that taking part is voluntary.
• Individual answers are confidential and used only for statistics.

Who it applies to

• Family farms with animals, field crops, vegetables, fruit or vineyards that are listed in the Address Register and were selected for the sample.
• Farms of legal entities and entrepreneurs are all covered, without a sample. They fill in a separate form (for crops, form GIPG-B/PL) from their accounts and other records.
• The organic survey does not use a sample. According to the 2025 guide, all family farms in the Address Register that are registered for organic production are called. The 2026 work plan also covers farms of legal entities and entrepreneurs in the register of organic producers, and those whose registration is in progress.
• If a farm in the Register has no phone number, the crop questionnaire is sent by post.
• Being selected does not mean there is anything wrong with your farm. The sample is drawn at random.

What is reported

• Livestock: number of cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, horses and poultry, and number of beehives, on 1 December; livestock movements, production and use of milk (cow, sheep and goat) and hen eggs, honey production and pigs slaughtered on the farm from 1 December of the previous year to 30 November of the current year. The call can take less than 5 minutes, or more than 15 minutes for a larger farm.
• Crops: harvested area and output of field crops, vegetables, fruit and grapes, areas sown in autumn, and leased agricultural land (area and rent paid).
• Organic production: organic crops, fruit, vineyards and olive groves, organic animal husbandry, livestock products, aquaculture and final organic products.
• The interviewer checks the holder's name, personal ID number (matični broj), home address, e-mail and phone number. The name and ID number are not typed in: the application fills them in from the farm list once the eight-digit farm number (IPG) is entered. The interviewer may also ask for the farm's number in the Farm Register of the Ministarstvo poljoprivrede, šumarstva i vodoprivrede (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management) if the application does not already have it.

What to do

1. When the interviewer calls, ask who they are and which survey it is. Interviewers are trained by RZS and must keep the data as a business secret. For the crop and organic surveys, the guides also provide for a letter to the farm about the survey.
2. If you are unsure, say you will call back, then phone RZS in Banja Luka (+387 51 332 700) or the RZS regional unit in Trebinje (059/271 290). The survey does not need payment card details, passwords or anything not related to the farm. If someone asks for these, end the call and contact RZS.
3. Give animal numbers as they were on 1 December. Changes after that day do not count. Count all animals that were on the farm that day, your own and other people's, for example broilers you fatten under contract for a company. Give production for the period the interviewer names. Keep your animal records and latest yield figures at hand.
4. If the farm has closed or the holder has changed, tell the interviewer. This is recorded as a separate outcome (for example, the farm no longer farms, or there is a different holder), and the new holder's details are entered.
5. If you do not want to take part, the interviewer records the refusal as "farm refused cooperation". Before you refuse, read the section "Duty to answer" below.

Confidentiality

• Individual data is used only for statistics, and confidential data collected for statistics may not be used for any other purpose (Law on Statistics, article 17).
• Individual data about legal entities and individuals may be passed on or made public only with their consent (article 27, paragraph 3).
• Statistical data may not be given to users if it contains or reveals confidential data. The law treats as confidential the data for a single reporting unit, or for a group of at least three units in which one unit's share exceeds 85% (article 27, paragraph 2). RZS publishes the livestock survey results only for Republika Srpska as a whole.
• A person with access to confidential data who unlawfully and knowingly makes it public commits an offence and is fined 200 to 1,700 KM (article 32).
• RZS must send the BiH Agency for Statistics the data it needs for the BiH statistical programme, and this exchange is not limited by the confidentiality rules (article 26).

Duty to answer

• Law on Statistics, article 2 paragraph 4 and article 8: a reporting unit is a legal entity or an individual named in the statistical programme as a data provider. It must give RZS complete and accurate data within the deadline, free of charge, and allow the data to be checked.
• The Statistical Programme of Republika Srpska for 2026-2029 lists family farms among the target groups of agricultural statistics. The RZS work plan for 2026, under "who must provide data", names the sampled family farms for the livestock and crop surveys, and farms in the register of organic producers for the organic survey.
• Fines (articles 30 and 31): an enterprise, institution or cooperative that does not supply data, supplies false data or prevents checking is fined 500 to 15,000 KM, and the responsible person 200 to 1,700 KM. An individual is fined 50 to 1,700 KM.
• The 2025 livestock survey guide (point 1.9), however, says that taking part is voluntary, and it records refusal as one of the normal survey outcomes. The crop and organic guides do not contain that sentence. The published documents do not show whether RZS starts offence proceedings against a farm that refuses. If you have decided to refuse, or the interviewer puts pressure on you, ask RZS in writing which legal basis applies to your farm.

Where to go

• Republički zavod za statistiku, Vladike Platona bb, Banja Luka. Phone +387 51 332 700, e-mail stat@rzs.rs.ba, office hours 7:30 to 15:30.
• RZS regional unit Trebinje (Područna jedinica Trebinje), Obala Luke Vukalovića 45, Trebinje. Phone 059/271 290 and 059/271 293.
• The guides are on the RZS website under "Metodologije i klasifikacije", section Agriculture and fisheries (Poljoprivreda i ribarstvo). The guides for December 2026 had not been published when this was written, so this text describes the 2025 surveys. In the 2026 work plan the livestock and crop surveys are called "Anketa o poljoprivrednoj proizvodnji" (Agricultural production survey). The 2025 organic guide gives two date ranges (data collection 15 to 25 December, interviewers engaged 20 to 30 December), so check the exact days with RZS.
• We quote the Law on Statistics from the official text that RZS publishes on its "Pravni akti" (Legal acts) page. The law has not been amended since 2003, and RZS still cites Službeni glasnik RS no. 85/03 in its 2026 documents.

Laws and sources

• Law on Statistics of Republika Srpska (Službeni glasnik RS no. 85/03), articles 2, 8, 17, 25 to 32 (RZS)
• Statistical Programme of Republika Srpska 2026-2029 (Službeni glasnik RS no. 4/26), measure 1.3.1 (RZS)
• RZS plan of statistical activities for 2026, points 3.1.2.1.05, 3.1.2.1.06 and 3.1.2.2.02 (RZS)
• Methodological guide: Annual survey of agricultural holdings, livestock production 2025 (RZS)
• Methodological guide: Annual survey of agricultural holdings, crop production 2025 (RZS)
• Methodological guide: Annual survey of organic agriculture 2025 (RZS)
• Instructions for form GIPG-B/PL for legal entities and entrepreneurs 2025 (RZS)