NewsWhore
06-05-2006, 02:10 PM
Kevin Manning of the American Chamber of Commerce, representing the Dominican business community, has told reporters that the sector is worried about the possible delay in the initiation of the DR-CAFTA agreement. Manning said that there was no real obstacle to the start-up of the free trade agreement. Manning also pushed for the legislative approval of the laws needed to put DR-CAFTA into full force. He said that "there are four countries that already have the FTA in effect - Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras. Only the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica are missing. Costa Rica has not yet approved the treaty."
Speaking for the National Private Business Council, (CONEP), Elena Viyella said that the delay in DR-CAFTA's start up is causing some concern within the business community. According to Diario Libre, Viyella said that "there are still meetings going on and it is still not ready." According to reports, Dominican Law 173 is apparently a stumbling block in the start up process. This is the law that protects Dominican importers and commercial representatives from outside competition. There seem to be questions about the issue of intellectual piracy Gustavo Cisneros, the Venezuelan billionaire who has a home in La Romana's Casa de Campo, said that American lobbyists and their allies are trying to influence the US government to reopen some aspects of the DR-CAFTA treaty. In his opinion, as reported by El Caribe, this will impede the start up of the free trade agreement scheduled to begin on 1 July. Cisneros was interviewed after his speech at the Private Sector Forum at the Jaragua Hotel, part of the OAS meeting currently under way.
However, Robert Zoellick, the Undersecretary of State representing Condoleezza Rice at the OAS Assembly, told a press conference at the National Palace that DR-CAFTA would be delayed indefinitely. Zoellick said that he had informed President Fernandez of the delay, and that there were issues concerning new items and the necessary legislation.
The president of the Dominican Association of Pharmaceutical Industries, Paulo Etcheverry told Hoy newspaper that the country is ready for entry into DR-CAFTA as far as matters of intellectual and industrial property are concerned. He criticized the fact that the people who are saying that the country is not ready include former negotiators who have been hired by US pharmaceutical companies to lobby for their interests.
Link To Original Article (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#5)
Speaking for the National Private Business Council, (CONEP), Elena Viyella said that the delay in DR-CAFTA's start up is causing some concern within the business community. According to Diario Libre, Viyella said that "there are still meetings going on and it is still not ready." According to reports, Dominican Law 173 is apparently a stumbling block in the start up process. This is the law that protects Dominican importers and commercial representatives from outside competition. There seem to be questions about the issue of intellectual piracy Gustavo Cisneros, the Venezuelan billionaire who has a home in La Romana's Casa de Campo, said that American lobbyists and their allies are trying to influence the US government to reopen some aspects of the DR-CAFTA treaty. In his opinion, as reported by El Caribe, this will impede the start up of the free trade agreement scheduled to begin on 1 July. Cisneros was interviewed after his speech at the Private Sector Forum at the Jaragua Hotel, part of the OAS meeting currently under way.
However, Robert Zoellick, the Undersecretary of State representing Condoleezza Rice at the OAS Assembly, told a press conference at the National Palace that DR-CAFTA would be delayed indefinitely. Zoellick said that he had informed President Fernandez of the delay, and that there were issues concerning new items and the necessary legislation.
The president of the Dominican Association of Pharmaceutical Industries, Paulo Etcheverry told Hoy newspaper that the country is ready for entry into DR-CAFTA as far as matters of intellectual and industrial property are concerned. He criticized the fact that the people who are saying that the country is not ready include former negotiators who have been hired by US pharmaceutical companies to lobby for their interests.
Link To Original Article (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#5)