The signatory organizations representing more than 200 organizations from various sectors of national production, reiterated their high concern about the possible approval of the bill that, provisionally, levies a zero rate in the customs tariff on goods from the basic basket.
“The approval of the bill does not guarantee a reduction in the prices of the basic basket, and on the contrary, it would significantly affect approximately 25% of the national economy, more than half a million direct and indirect jobs, hundreds of thousands of rural producers, production companies, agro-industries, other industries and companies that supply inputs and services, as well as the thousands of micro, small and medium-sized companies that participate in the marketing chain of these products,” they estimated. the organizations.
The organizations made a call, both to the President of the Republic, Luis Abinader Coronaas well as the legislators to reject the approval of the aforementioned bill and to open a space for dialogue in order to carefully analyze the harmful effects that it would cause and find alternative solutions to mitigate the inflationary effects caused by the aftermath of the pandemic and the Russia/Ukraine conflict.
Read more: José Horacio warns “adverse effect on national production” to eliminate tariffs
The productive sectors showed their commitment to accompany the Dominican government in the search for joint solutions to reduce the impact of international inflation on mass consumption products, promoting policies and initiatives that lead to the expansion of the national supply and the mitigation of the increase cost of raw materials and supplies used in domestic production.
They indicated that the recent signs of a possible peace agreement in the war between Russia and Ukraine open a waiting period and a possible decrease in the international prices of commodities, which could reduce the global pressure of shortages and inflation.
This situation would make it possible to adequately weigh, without haste, alternative measures to mitigate prices, which are not detrimental to the hundreds of thousands of jobs generated by the productive sectors.
They added that the bill that establishes a zero rate for goods in the basic basket, instead of strengthening the Dominican productive sectors, what it does is favor the workers and producers of the countries from which the imports would come.
“It would be a change in the Commercial Policy of the Dominican Republic and the opening of our market to all the countries of the world.”
“Trade agreements between countries must be carried out within the framework of the reciprocity principle and in this case it would be that we would be granting tariff preferences to any country without receiving anything in return and being left at the expense of unfair trade practices.”
Another concern expressed by the organizations is that this bill would open imports of products from countries with health and safety problems that could put our poultry, livestock and livestock production at risk, creating harmful effects on the health of consumers.
“There are laws, decrees, rules, regulations and ministerial resolutions, which establish the requirements for the authorization of countries that wish to export meat products to the Dominican Republic, whose purpose is to guarantee that the consumer receives safe products and that the productive sectors are not affected by pests and diseases not present in the national geography.
These aspects have not been addressed in the deposited bill and the omission of them represents a risk to the health of Dominicans and a threat to the health of food products”, they pointed out.
They considered that it is evident that the risks represented by the approval of a bill of this nature would significantly outweigh the possible benefits and that this initiative, even if it is established for 6 months, would cause a progressive dismantling of Dominican production and eventually the partial or total operations of various sectors.
The producer organizations emphasized that the key role that the Dominican national production has played during the pandemic and in the process of Recovery economy, showing its commitment to guarantee the supply of essential national products to all consumers, so that the initiatives to mitigate the effects of inflation that are adopted must be focused on maintaining the pace of supply, strengthening national production and reducing costs in the supply chain.
The organizations representing the productive sectors appealed to the good conscience of the government and legislators to prevent the approval of this bill and urged them to value these approaches that, in essence, seek to generate an environment of dialogue to ensure that the sacrifices carried out by the State are for the benefit of the most vulnerable and not of particular sectors.
Finally, they reiterated their willingness to continue collaborating in the construction of initiatives that guarantee the good performance of the national productive sector and the Food Security of the Dominican Republic.
DOMINICAN AGRIBUSINESS BOARD (JAD)
NATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS (CONFENAGRO)
ASSOCIATION OF INDUSTRIES OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (AIRD)
DOMINICAN ASSOCIATION OF FARMERS AND FARMERS (ADHA)
DOMINICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION (ADA)
ASSOCIATION OF MILK PRODUCERS (APROLECHE)
COOPCAÑA
DOMINICAN ASSOCIATION OF AQUACULTURERS (ADOA)
