Dominican Visa Requirements Waived for Citizens of Several Countries.

Foreigners with up-to-date passports and visas issued by the European Union, the US, UK or Canada, as well as nationals from the countries listed below will have their Dominican Visa requirements waived and will be allowed to enter the country only by purchasing a tourist card at their port of entry.

Andorra, Bahrain, Belize, Botswana, Brunei, Cyprus, United Arab Emirates, Estonia, Fiji, Grenada, Guyana, Iceland, the North Marianas Islands, Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Micronesia, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Namibia, Nauru, Qatar, South Africa, Romania, Samoa, Seychelles, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, Turkey, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

European Union-Caribbean Economic Parnership Agreement reached

The Dominican Republic will benefit from aspects of regional preference that were introduced in the European Partnership Agreement between the European Union and Caricom and the Dominican Republic completed on 16 December 2007, in time for the 1 January 2008 implementation date. According to Ivan Ogando at the Ministry of Foreign Relations, the EPA will also facilitate the export of Dominican products to Caricom countries, far beyond what the FTA with Caricom had accomplished. The new agreement replaces the Cotonou Agreement that expires at the end of this year.

Ambassador Richard Bernal, chief negotiator for the Caribbean, described the EPA as historic in terms of content and precedent:"It will promote and deepen the economic ties between the two longest running integration processes in the world. It will enhance our trade in goods because the European Union is providing duty-free, quota-free access and we are liberalizing access to our market," he told a media conference on Sunday.

Interestingly, the agreement includes a provision that gives citizens of the Caribbean access to Europe's entertainment services market, for instance. This will allow musical performers and artistes to move into Europe to present their talent and to seize business opportunities. This is a novelty that was very difficult to achieve," said Deputy Director General for Trade of the EU Commission, Karl Falkenberg, who signed the document for the EU, told CANANews. The Caribbean Regional Negotiations Machinery office says that while the culmination of this negotiation process has come later than previously scheduled, CARIFORUM countries, by completing the EPA before the end of the year, have ensured that their product exports to the EU will not have to face Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) treatment or face Most Favored Nation (MFN) duties in 2008. As of 1 January 2008, with a temporary exception for rice and sugar, all CARIFORUM goods will be entitled to duty-free and quota-free access to the European Union. Importantly, CARIFORUM is the first group within the ACP to clinch a comprehensive agreement that covers not just goods but services, investment, and trade related issues such as innovation and intellectual property.

The major elements of the agreement concluded between the European Community and Cariforum countries are as follows:

1. Cariforum liberalizing 86.9% with 82.7% within the first 15 years. The agreement will result in the liberalization of 92% of Cariforum-EC trade;

2. A general moratorium of three years on all tariff lines except motor vehicles and parts and gasoline that will benefit from a 10-year grace period;

3. Other duties and charges are to be maintained during the first seven years and then phased out in years 8, 9 and 10.

4. In addition to the SP quotas, a transitional TRQ of 60,000 tonnes split evenly between CARIFORUM SP members and the Dominican Republic. In addition, a joint commitment to ensure that shortfalls of any CARIFORUM SP member will be reallocated to another CARIFORUM SP member;

5. Award of MFN treatment to major trading partner defined as countries garnering 1% and 1.5% of world merchandise exports and services.

6. In services, CARIFORUM LDCs and MDCs have committed to 65 and 75% respective sectorial coverage with a standstill clause and provisions for future liberalization. BAH and HAI will submit their respective liberalization schedules in six months;

7. CARIFORUM CSS in entertainment services will enjoy access without any restrictions in all EU Member States with the exception of Austria and Germany;

8. Joint Declarations on Development Cooperation, Bananas, Sugar Allocation and Traditional Agricultural Products; The JD on Development Cooperation includes a commitment to channel EPA support through the CARICOM Development Fund.

9. Regional preference to be awarded one, two and five years in the case of CARIFORUM MDCs, LDCs and Haiti, respectively.

10. The Trade Partnership for Sustainable Development (Development Chapter) includes support for infrastructure while the preamble of the Agreement states that full account should be taken of the CARICOM Development Vision.

Source: www.dr1.com

Dell Ordered to Pay US$3.6 Million for Breach of Contract

According to Dominican media reports, a Santo Domingo court sentenced the local Dell, Inc. subsidiary to pay RD$116.5 million (approximately US$3.6 million) in indemnification to Dominican information technology firm Xolutiva, S.A. The Dominican company sued Dell for RD$300 million for violating its rights as the Dell’s local representative. The Civil and Commercial Chamber ruled against Dell for violating Law 173 on International Representations, holding that Xolutiva represented Dell in the country since 1997, but Dell unilaterally decided not to renew the contract without due compensation. The court ordered Dell to close its operations in the Dominican Republic.

Dominican Republic Customs Increases Tax Break for Nationals Living Abroad

Miguel Cocco, head of the Dominican Customs Department recently announced that Dominicans living abroad returning to the DR during these coming holidays will be allowed to bring tax-free gifts up to US$2,500 in value, a US$1,000 increase from last years limit. The measure, allowed under law 9-96, will be effective starting November 1^st. To qualify Dominicans must not have come into the Dominican Republic within six months of their entry during the holidays.

Dominican Republic Ranks Second in Economic Growth

The International Monetary Found revealed that the Dominican Republic’s economy has grown 8% during 2007, second only to Panama (8.5%) among all Latin American countries. The FMI praised both the Dominican Republic and Panama for getting ahead of Venezuela and Mexico, the region’s top oil-producing countries, by concentrating their efforts in developing their comparative advantages, regardless of their need for foreign oil supplies.

Tropical Storm Noel Spared Tourism Industry

Tropical Storm Noel slowly passed through the Dominican Republic leaving behind ~50 dead, millions in agricultural crop damages and thousands evacuated from their homes. Damages were seen mostly in the southern region of the country, far from the country’s major resort towns, including Bavaro, Punta Cana, Bayahibe, Luperon, La Romana, Puerto Plata, Las Terrenas, Samana, Cabarete, Sosua, Constanza and Jarabacoa.

Fernandez Creates Transitory Free-zone Industry Subsidy Fund

President Fernandez recently issued presidential Decree 552-07, which calls for the creation of a fund that would subsidize the Dominican Republic free zone industry for a nine-month period. The fund would prevent further losses in the industry, a sector of the Dominican Republic’s economy which has been severely affected by increasing pricing competition from China on apparel contracts. Distribution will be made based upon the free zone company’s fixed workforce.

This new measure comes at a time when the Dominican Republic free zone sector is experiencing an abrupt business model trend change from textile assembling facilities to more service oriented ones, such as calling centers which cater their services to US, Canadian and British corporations.