Pork producers object to quota handling

[NewsWhore]

Pork producers are alleging that they cannot hold up against the continual importing of pork pieces and waste products that compete one to one with local producers. The issue appears to be that the Dominican Republic does not have a policy that would compensate local producers and give them equal footing with the importers. The way in which the import quotas are handled is also under discussion. According to members of the National Pork Commission, Jose Alba and Miguel Zaglul, importers are not observing the time lines stipulated in the agreements of DR-CAFTA and thus are depressing the local market for the food products. According to the two officials, "our problem...is the way the imports are being handled. And it is not that we have not warned everyone of this. We did it twice, once during the first round of talks (on DR-CAFTA) and again in Washington when we stopped the discussions when we saw that the intention was to liquidate our sector of production." Apparently there is discord because the treaty allows importers to import containers of whole hogs, but without bones. Instead of 50 whole hog carcasses per container, the de-boned version allows for 200 carcasses to fit into a container. The producers are not worried about production standards, since many of the local pork producers are using state of the art techniques, but their competitiveness is affected by the higher cost of electricity in the country.

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