DR1 Daily News - Dominican Republic

Dominican government ministers of Foreign Relations and Industry & Commerce and business people are taking advantage of Dominican Week in the USA to lobby for the restoration of the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement (HELP) Act trade preference program that was allowed to expire on 1 October together with the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

Fernando Capellan, president of Codevi, the largest private employer in Haiti (around 20,000 jobs) is championing the efforts on behalf of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

The mechanism allows for special provisions for the clothing produced in Haiti and Africa and exported to the United States.

For the United States, the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) is also working to continue the programs.

“We are frustrated by the failure to act on these long-standing, bipartisan trade preference programs that clearly benefit local garment industries abroad as well as Made-in-America...