Dominican Republic

Location: Caribbean, eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Haiti 

Capital: Santo Domingo 

Languages: Spanish 

Area: 48,730 sq km 

Land Use:  arable land:22.65%; permanent crops: 10.33%; other: 67.02% (2001) 

Natural Resources: nickel, bauxite, gold, silver 

Population: 8,950,034 (July 2005 est.) 

Labour force: 2.3 million - 2.6 million (2000 est.) 

Labour force participation rate: 25.70% of population (2000 est.) 

Population below poverty line:  25% 

International Organisation participation: ACP, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (subscriber), ITU, LAES, LAIA (observer), MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW (signatory), PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOCI, UNWTO,UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO 

GDP per capita: U$6,300 (2004 est.) 

GDP Real Growth Rate: 1.7% (2004 est.) 

GDP sectoral composition: agriculture:10.7%; industry: 31.5%; services: 57.8% (2003) 

Investment (gross fixed):18.9% of GDP (2004 est.) 

Industries:tourism, sugar processing, ferronickel and gold mining, textiles, cement, tobacco 

Industrial production growth rate: 2% (2001 est.) 

Agriculture - products:sugarcane, coffee, cotton, cocoa, tobacco, rice, beans, potatoes, corn, bananas; cattle, pigs, dairy products, beef, eggs 

Exports: U$5.446 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.) 

Exports - commodities:ferronickel, sugar, gold, silver, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, meats, consumer goods 

Exports - partners:US 80%, South Korea 2.1%, Canada 1.9% (2004)

Imports: U$8.093 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities:foodstuffs, petroleum, cotton and fabrics, chemicals and pharmaceuticals 

Imports - partners:US 48.1%, Venezuela 13.5%, Colombia 4.8%, Mexico 4.8% (2004) 

QUALITATIVE TRADE PROFILE 

The Dominican Republic has mainstreamed trade policy into their general development policy so that it forms a key part of their drive to achieve socio-economic development. The main aims of the trade policy of the Dominican Republic is stimulating efficiency and competitiveness of national producers; reducing the level of effective protection and any existing anti-export bias in the tariff structure; and fostering regional economic cooperation.

The tariff is the main trade policy instrument. All tariffs are only ad valorem tariffs in use.  During the Uruguay Round, the Dominican Republic bound all its tariffs at 40%. After the round amendments were successfully negotiated with the result that some products now how a higher bound rate (primarily staples such as rice, chicken, onions) while wheat and soy oil were subject to much lower bindings (5% and 10% respectively). Applied tariffs are much lower. Tariff-free treatment is accorded to 13.5% of tariff lines. There are four other tariff bands of 3%, 8%, 14% and 20% with the majority of goods subject to the lowest tariff band. The average tariff is 8.6%; agricultural products are subject to an average tariff level of 12.9% which non-agricultural products are subject to a tariff of 7.9% on average.

INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the lead ministry in formulating trade policy. Other entities involved in the formulation of trade policy include the Central Bank and the Ministries of Industry and Trade, Agriculture, and the Presidency.  The Dominican Centre for Export Promotion and the National Council for Free Trade Zones are involved in the implementation of trade or trade-related policies.

The Commission for National Trade Negotiations is the body under the ministry specifically charged with negotiations The Commission is composed of representatives from public and private institutions.  Participants from the public sector include:  the Ministries of Agriculture, Foreign Affairs, Industry and Trade, Finance, Tourism, and the Presidency; the Central Bank; the Dominican Centre for Export Promotion; and the Directorate-General of Customs.  Tariff rates are the domain of the Commission of Tariff Analysis which recommends tariff levels to the Executive.  Finally, the National Council of Foreign Trade is newly formulated and makes recommendations in the field of export promotion, free-trade zones, foreign investment, contingency measures, and trade negotiations.

TRADE AGREEMENTS 

Bilateral 

The Dominican Republic  is the recipient of GSP preferences by:  Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, the European Union, Hungary, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, the Slovak Republic, Switzerland, and the United States. It has preferential trading agreements with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Central American Common Market (CACM). 

Regional 

The Dominican Republic is negotiating with the rest of the countries in the Americas to form a Free Trade Area of the Americas. Additionally, it is currently negotiating an Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU through the CARIFORUM configuration. 

Multilateral 

Dominican Republicis a founding Member of the WTO and grants MFN treatment to all its trading partners. It has GATS commitments in 12 sectors

NEED PRIORITIES 

Priority areas for the Dominican Republic are; sectoral databases, training for officials in the Directorate of Foreign Trade and Administration of Trade Agreements, strengthening statistical databases, customs, technical assistance with negotiations with specific focus on market access issues.  

Source: Commonwealth Yearbook 2005, World Fact Book, WTO Secretariat.