News on Haiti

Farmers taking part in the bi-national market between Haiti and the DR have decided to boycott this coming Monday's market in response to the Haitian authorities' reluctance to lift their ban on Dominican chicken and egg imports. The ban has been in place for two weeks, following an Avian flu scare in the DR, but Puerto Rico and other countries lifted the ban more than a week ago. Adding to concerns, Haitian President Rene Preval announced his intent to continue the ban yesterday, even after a delegation of Dominican officials and business representatives went to Haiti to try to get the decision repealed.
The decision to boycott the market was made on Tuesday during a meeting of sector representatives, including the Dajabon Business Association. Producers agreed to prevent the entry of Haitian products as long as their ban on chicken and egg imports remains in place. Freddy Morillo of the Chicken Sellers Association said that they can't take the situation any longer. He added that producers from Moca and other towns have been invited to join the protest and that producers are willing to stand together in response to the situation. Morillo also commented on the claim that the ban has remained in place because high-ranking officials in Haiti would rather import eggs from other countries.

31 January 2008 - DR1 Daily News

The news from Dajabon was not encouraging yesterday. The Haitians who crossed the border to purchase goods on market day did not stop at the egg or chicken vendor's stalls, as their country's ban on poultry and poultry products continued. However, Listin Diario is reporting that the Haitian authorities have "promised" Dominican poultry producers that the ban would be lifted this Friday at the latest. Freddy Morillo, the president of the Egg Vendors Association in Dajabon made the announcement. The association, together with their Haitian counterparts had planned to boycott this week's market days in protest, but decided to suspend this action after hearing this announcement. The Dominican Republic exports 15% of its poultry and 20% of its egg production to Haiti.

23 January 2008 - DR1 Daily

Haitian officials are taking their time to decide whether to lift a ban on Dominican chicken imports. Puerto Rico has already lifted the ban. The delay in making the decision is causing concern for chicken farmers who are losing money on a daily basis. Haiti is the DR's large purchaser of eggs and chickens. Hoy writes that producers could lose over 1.3 million chickens totaling RD$52 million in losses. Victor Abreu from the Egg Producers Association said that each chicken costs RD$190, but that they would have to be sold for RD$50 if the ban continues. In addition, the Association is asking the government for a loan of RD$500 million at a 6% interest rate, through the Banco Agricola. The money would be used for importing vitamins and chicken feed. Abreu added that although the cost of nutrition products for chickens has increased, the price of eggs and chickens hasn't. Enriquillo Rivas, aviculture consultant, told Hoy that there is no epidemiological reason for Haiti to maintain the ban. He said that Haitian officials could be taking their time in order to get the opinions of international health officials. According to Rivas, 85% of eggs consumed in Haiti are produced in the DR. Rivas went on to say that he believed that the ban would be lifted soon. The consultant said that Haiti wants to demonstrate that it is doing its job, which is acceptable, but he did warn the Haitians not too take too much time since Dominican poultry producers are losing money.

22 January 2008 - DR1 Daily News

Officials and technicians from the Ministry of Agriculture of Haiti have been in the DR visiting chicken farms in the Cibao region and taking blood samples from chickens to determine whether there could be more cases of Avian flu in the country after government controls revealed the virus had affected cockfighting roosters in the municipality of Higuey. Northern Region Poultry Producers Association (Asopollon) president Jose Lopez said that the Haitian officials seemed very receptive during their visit. He added that the officials were able to, with their own eyes and techniques, determine that the fears surrounding the recent cases of Avian flu amounted to a false alarm. Lopez hopes that the test results will lead Haitian officials to lift the ban on Dominican chicken exports.

17 January 2008 - DR1 Daily News

The Dominican and Haitian authorities will meet at the Jimani Hotel at 10am tomorrow to discuss the recent announcement that Haiti would ban the import of Dominican chickens and eggs after cases of poultry flu (the H5N2 strain of the virus) were found in the DR. Livestock Department director Dr. Angel Faxas said Agricultural Minister Salvador Jimenez would attend the meeting with Haitian agricultural experts. Despite the announcement, on Tuesday, the director for the DR Center of Exports and Investments (CEI-RD Eddy Martinez said that the exports of chicken through Jimani and Pedernales were normal, although he couldn't confirm if exports through Dajabon had been affected. Faxas said that the Dominican authorities expect whatever restrictions to be lifted considering that there have only been isolated cases of bird flu.
Despite reports and rumors of bird flu, Hoy is reporting that sales of chicken in supermarkets and colmados haven't been affected. The authorities have explained the strain that has appeared does not affect humans. Hoy writes that if there is a decrease in the sale of chicken it's because Dominicans are still recovering financially from the recent holiday celebrations and not because of Avian flu.

10 January 2008 - DR1 Daily News

The Haitian authorities have banned the importation of Dominican chicken and eggs in order to prevent the spread of Avian flu in the country. The ban has worried egg and chicken producers in the Cibao region and Escolastico Suero, spokesperson for egg and chicken sellers at the bi-national market, told Listin Diario that vendors could stand to lose an estimated RD$40 million. Last year the DR exported US$4 million worth of eggs to Haiti. Yesterday, Migration director Bernarda Reynoso and CESFRONT commander Colonel Rafael Roa Cruz and other high-ranking officials met in Dajabon to discuss the situation. During the meeting officials agreed to ask Agriculture Minister Salvador Jimenez to ask the Haitian authorities to lift the ban. Last week the Puerto Rican authorities temporarily banned the importation of Dominican chickens until the situation in the DR was under control. Local reports say that the fighting cocks found to be infected with the H5N2 avian flu strain had been irregularly imported from Puerto Rico.

08 January 2007 - DR1 Daily News

For many years Haiti has been the second largest recipient of Dominican exports, second only to the US, but Diario Libre, quoting a report by the Center for Exports and Investment (CEI-RD) and Customs, explains that exports to Haiti have decreased by 9.7% during the first six months of the year. During that same period Holland, South Korea and Belgium all overtook Haiti as recipients of Dominican exports. The report also indicates that exports for the first six months were valued at US$1.18 billion, for a 65% increase in comparison to the same period in 2006, although the increase in terms of volume was only 18.7%. The increase in exports was due in large part to the increased exports of nickel, sugar, bananas, hand-made cigars and metal rods. The US imported US$378.3 million, Holland imported US$135.9 million, South Korea imported US$134.1 million, Belgium imported US$67.2 million, Haiti imported US$66.1 million and Puerto Rico imported US$57.3 million worth of Dominican goods. Puerto Rico also slipped down the list of major importers of Dominican goods. Last year it was in fourth position, but this year it went down to sixth.
The report indicates that trade with countries with which the DR doesn't have a free trade agreement also increased significantly. For the first six months of 2007 Japan imported US$48.7 million in Dominican goods compared to US$9.4 million. Also on the list of major importers of Dominican goods are China (US$42.75 million), the UK (US$33.20 million), Spain (US$27.34 million), Taiwan (US$$24.81 million), Canada (US$20.38 million) and Cuba (US$13.18 million).
Traditional exports grew by 13.87% while mineral exports grew by 125.39%, with a value of US$620.89 million and non-traditional exports grew by 31.78% with a value of US$441.20 million. Nickel experienced the largest growth with a 127.79% increase, valued at US$613.73 million. Sugar experienced a 20.80% increase, valued at US$67.81 million for the first six months of the year. Cacao experienced an increase of 17.48% for a total value of US$27.49 million.
As for January-June 2007, the country is reporting a US$802.3 million trade deficit, due primarily to the increase in imports attributed to the DR-CAFTA and the overvalued Dominican peso.

4 September 2007 - DR1 Daily News

Haitian Ambassador Fritz Cineas has told Hoy newspaper that trade between Haiti and the DR is up this year. He said that official records show that Haiti imported US$147.9 million from the DR in 2006. This year, he expects imports to increase to US$160 million, given that the half-year figure is around US$75 million. He explained that estimates are that when overall imports, including the informal markets, are added, trade will reach US$500 million. He said that Dominicans only imported US$4 million from Haiti, according to official records.
The principal Dominican exports to Haiti were steel rods for construction, US$12 million; eggs, US$9 million; and flour, US$12 million.
Cineas said that the DR has never shown an interest in signing a free trade agreement with Haiti, but neither has there been any such request from the Haitian government. He said he does not know what interest there would be in Haiti. Cineas believes that a trade agreement would favor Dominican exporters.

31 August 2007 - DR1 Daily News

Yesterday DR1 reported that trade with Haiti has been on the rise and that Haiti is now the DR's third largest trading partner. The Dominican Republic exports US$147 million in goods to Haiti, and this trade grew by 18.8% in 2006. Today's Diario Libre provides more details on trade between the two countries. During the first semester of 2007, the DR exported 900 products to Haiti. The total value of trade was valued at US$66,174,886. Of this total value US$25,343,047 came from just six products: wheat, black cement, cardboard boxes, metal rods, soy oil and eggs. Wheat, which is imported into the DR for trans-shipment to Haiti, is the largest exported product with a value of US$8,106,908.
During the first six months of the year the DR exported 1,360,383 kilograms of ice to Haiti, valued at US$315.11 million. The sale of motorcycles was valued at US$803,377. These vehicles are imported and assembled in the DR prior to export to Haiti.
During this six-month period, 64 million kilograms of gray cement were exported with a value of US$4,965,031 million.
From 1 January to 1 June 193,297,806 kilograms of articles were shipped to Haiti, according to figures from the DR Center for Exports and Investments (CEI-RD).

7 August 2007 - DR1 Daily News

The Dominican Republic exports US$147 million in goods to Haiti, and this trade has grown by 18.8% in 2006. This makes Haiti the DR's third largest trading partner. However, these figures do not take into account the more informal trade that takes place across the border, a sum that many say at least duplicates the official figures. In such a case, according to Homero Figueroa of Diario Libre, then Haiti would be the nation's second largest trading partner. The latest report issued by the Center for Exports and Investment (CEI-DR) shows that Dominican exports have passed the US$1.5 billion mark for the first time, a significant improvement over 2006. According to the report, the main items shipped to Haiti were construction materials such as cement and re-bar, and foodstuffs such as eggs and flour. Another important item was corrugated cardboard boxes - US$4.21 million's worth.

6 August 2007 - DR1 Daily News