[DR1] Got milk?

[NewsWhore]

The Milk Producers Association (ADIL) has asked the Dominican government to make a formal request to the World Trade Organization (WTO) informing that the Dominican Republic no longer wishes to continue with the Technical Correction, which was issued over ten years ago. The original agreement carried a ten-year time frame. The local milk industry says that the Technical Correction "has had no favorable effect on national milk production or on the milk industry." This Technical Rectification gave the European Union the right to assign quotas that "favored through unfair privileges exclusive importers of milk in an industrialized form (powered milk in cans) at the expense of local producers." According to Hoy, the letter further states that "even worse, the Dominican Republic lost it power of decision as to how the product was marketed." The association, which represents all the major milk processors in the DR, says that the end of the Technical Rectification will coincide with the European Union's efforts to increase transparency in the government's management of imports and reduce the time needed to clear customs.


The milk association also pointed out that local milk production fell during the lifespan of the agreement, and that currently, there is a deficit of more than 100 million liters of milk per year. Even with the local price of milk increasing by 82% over the last few years, local production has fallen by 5%, despite an increasing demand for fresh milk. This demand is partly accounted for by the 1,154% increase in the number of school breakfasts, which rose from 130,000 to 1.5 million in 2005.

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