Customs to adapt to DR-CAFTA

[NewsWhore]

The country's customs department is going through an overhaul and is looking to fix problems in the collection and storage of important statistics. These deficiencies need to be corrected in order for the country to fulfill DR-CAFTA requirements. The weaknesses were pointed out in a 2005 report by Manuel Rodriguez Amiama while DR-CAFTA was being negotiated. The report pointed out that the Dominican statistics on imports/exports to the United States did not tally with US government statistics. Rodriguez Amiama defines the deficiencies at Customs as a "cultural problem" since the department has never had to make changes like those required by DR-CAFTA for other trade agreements. As part of DR-CAFTA, Dominican Customs must have an electronic database which has to be up and running seven days a week, 24 hours a day, must be accessible from anywhere, at any time, must provide security for all information and electronic transactions, along with a host of other requirements. Rodriguez's report says that Customs should aim to reduce the difference in statistics by 1% with that of the National Treasury and 10% with those of the nations that trade with the DR and also the Customs Department should improve its handling of requests for statistics as well as working towards the full incorporation of the Internet into the process of collecting and studying information.

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