NewsWhore
07-11-2007, 07:20 PM
The Dominican Federation of Merchants (FDC) says that the Minister of Agriculture and the Administrative Minister for the Presidency are involved in assigning import quotas that result in RD$2 billion in profits for just four companies. Ivan Garcia, the FDC president and one of his economic advisors, Miguel Sang Ben, told ListIn Diario reporters that items such as garlic, beans, sugar and onions are imported according to the whim of the officials who benefit from these four importers. GarcIa and Sang called the four a 'cartel' and said that in the case of garlic, the cost of a pound of garlic is just RD$10.60, but the item is selling for more than RD$60 pesos in the marketplace. The two accused the Minister of Agriculture and the Presidential Minister of "sponsoring a monopoly of imports," and detailed the cases of beans that cost RD$12 and sell for RD$24.00 and onions that cost RD$8 and sell for RD$30 per pound.
At the same time, the sole importer of the Milex brand of powdered milk said that if the government removes the 20% tariff currently in place for the product, there would be no need to increase the price of the product. The tariff reduction would absorb the increase in the world price of milk, according to Bayardo MejIa.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)
At the same time, the sole importer of the Milex brand of powdered milk said that if the government removes the 20% tariff currently in place for the product, there would be no need to increase the price of the product. The tariff reduction would absorb the increase in the world price of milk, according to Bayardo MejIa.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)