The National Federation of Rice Producers (Fenarroz), together with other organizations linked to the Dominican national rice production sector, gathered hundreds of rice owners, processors and producers in the community of Castañuela in the Montecristi province, to organize and leave ahead of the entry into force of the Free Trade Agreement between Central America and the United States (DR-CAFTA) that would allow the importation of rice affecting the sector.
At the meeting, the producers expressed their concern that the Free Trade Agreement between Central America and the United States (DR-CAFTA) establishes that by 2025, all rice from the United States will be able to enter the country free of tariffs, which It could bankrupt the 33,000 producers that exist throughout the Dominican territory.
Read: If the tariff clearance is not stopped, rice cultivation would disappear in the DR
The prominent rice producer Marcelo Reyes Jorge, president of the National Federation of Rice Producers (Fenarroz), said that they will not allow the national rice production to disappear, because they understand that with the tariff liberation of Dr-Cafta they would also be bankrupt. to day laborers, rice factories, suppliers of agricultural inputs, vendors of machinery and suppliers of threads, flamingos and sacks and all those linked to the rice life for being this basic food of the family basket and for its high productivity and economic contribution to the country .
“Let’s not be fooled, they may come with cheaper rice, but they will destroy a pillar of national production, rice is food security, it is social peace, it is a source of employment and prevents the escape of foreign currency from the Dominican Republic, among many things ”, the visit of the USA Rice Federation, is seeking to make contacts for their businesses in preparation for the DR-Cafta, before this our response with the unit, is that we are not afraid and that we begin to fight united because we will not allow the destruction of this sector, said Marcelo Reyes Jorge, president of FENARROZ.
“Mr. President, it is in your hands that rice disappear or remain planted in the Dominican fields, Mr. President, in your hands is the livelihood of more than five hundred thousand people who directly till the land, you don’t play with the Moor , not to DR-Cafta, do not bring discouragement to this sector, bring hope” emphasized Reyes.
We cannot be distracted, during the pandemic everything was closed, it was not imported and here there was enough rice to supply, in the hands of the president is the solution to this, but more in the hands of the producers who today united show that they will not take a step back in this fight, affirmed the Spokesman and Executive Director of the Dominican Rice Union, Heraldo Suero Díaz.
Impact on national productivity
FENARROZ affirms that there are some 30,000 producers in the country, with more than 300,000 direct and indirect employees in 21 provinces.
They also point out that these families depend on the cultivation, industrialization and commercialization of rice as a means of income, which the country has the capacity to perfectly export one million quintals, in addition to reaching the first harvest of 2023 with more than three million quintals. , when the strategic reserve of the Dominican Republic should be two million quintals, which indicates the existence of sufficient production for several months, which could increase and improve the sector if the support of the government and planning with the vision of the president Luis Abinader allow it like this.
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