the fact that Cuba imports 75% of its food does not mean that the market is available. what if they already have their suppliers in place?
- Thread starter mountainannie
- Start date
Excess Chickens and eggs
the fact that Cuba imports 75% of its food does not mean that the market is available. what if they already have their suppliers in place?
But don't they have to be from further away than the DR? Wouldn't there be room for competition? Aren't some of the hotel chains that are here also in Cuba? Wouldn't they perhaps know? Who else in the region is exporting food? Even if they have suppliers in place, they may be in a position to compete on the price point or taste factor. I think DR chickens are really tasty. Maybe they are getting US chickens from Panama? Who knows.. But I know, for instance, that in Puero Rico, you can only find this really lousy iceberg lettuce from Californa.. NOTHING to compare with the increbile selections that we have here. And in Martinique I hear that a tomato is about $5 a pound.
Most of those little islands to the east and the south are very built up for tourism and the DR is really inexpensive compared to them. So I think that there are a lot of untapped markets for the DR.
there are untapped markets for the DR in the caribbean, but it is not that simple. trade is not just what one sees on the surface. there are petty jealousies and insularities which dictate the sociopolitical ecosystem of the region. the DR applied for membership into Caricom since the 90s, and they still have only observer status. none of the Caricom states really want them as a full member, because they have never shown any inclination to play on a level playing field. look at their objections to the shipment of Jamaican cement last year. have you ever seen any english speaking caribbean products on supermarket shelves here? you will see things from Malaysia, and Thailand, but not from St Lucia, or Grenada. try getting help from the ministry of trade to import something from an island like Barbados or Trinidad, and see what happens.
wow.. I did not know that. I thought for sure that the DR was in Caricom, since it has the biggest economy in the Carribean. But guess they are going to have to learn to play better with others.
CARICOM MEMBER STATES
Haiti - Economy : Launch of the CARICOM Aid for Trade Strategy - HaitiLibre.com, Haiti News, The haitian people's voice
CARICOM MEMBER STATES
Haiti - Economy : Launch of the CARICOM Aid for Trade Strategy - HaitiLibre.com, Haiti News, The haitian people's voice
probably not going to be so welcomed in Cuba either
IPS again confirms Cuba needs to import 80% of the food it consumes - quotes local researchers as source
IPS again confirms Cuba needs to import 80% of the food it consumes - quotes local researchers as source
How can this be?
It's, by far, the largest island in the Caribbean with a bunch of good land!
I thought it was a People's Paradise with, literally, a chicken in every pot!
i have no idea how, or why, the agricultural production in such a large country, with such wonderful soil, can be so anaemic. then again, i do know. collectivizied agriculture has very questionable results.
politics has a lot to do with trade patterns, too. the Eastern caribbean has always been sympathetic of the Cuban position, while the DR has been a US puppet. they are the only country that sent soldiers to Iraq, while the other Caricom states were taking fire from the USA for taking a neutral position. politics have a big part to play in inter-regional affairs.
looks like Cuba is trying to get out of the collective farm into some sort of a more capitalist model or at least cooperative model.. I read somewhere that the agriculture was a complete failure and heard that
most Cubans are used to just cabbage and potatoes and chicken
folks in the city cannot legally make enoough money to feed their families
wiki
Cuba[edit]
In the first few years following the Cuban Revolution of the 1950s, the new Cuban authorities experimented with agricultural production cooperatives. Between 1977 and 1983, farmers began to collectivize into CPAs ? Cooperativa de Producci?n Agropecuaria (agricultural production cooperatives). Farmers were encouraged to sell their land to the state for the establishment of a cooperative farm, receiving payments for a period of 20 years while also sharing in the fruits of the CPA. Joining a CPA allowed individuals who were previously dispersed throughout the countryside to move to a centralized location with increased access to electricity, medical care, housing, and schools. Democratic practice tends to be limited to business decisions and is constrained by the centralized economic planning of the Cuban system.
Another type of agricultural production cooperative in Cuba is UBPC ? Unidad B?sica de Producci?n Cooperativa (basic unit of cooperative production in Spanish). The law authorizing the creation of UBPCs was passed on September 20, 1993. It has been used to transform many state farms into UBPCs, similarly to the transformation of Russian sovkhozes (state farms) into kolkhozes (collective farms) after 1992. The law granted indefinite usufruct to the workers of the UBPC in line with its goal to link the workers to the land, establish material incentives for increased production by tying workers' earnings to the overall production of the UBPC, and increase managerial autonomy and workers' participation in the management of the workplace.
most Cubans are used to just cabbage and potatoes and chicken
folks in the city cannot legally make enoough money to feed their families
wiki
Cuba[edit]
In the first few years following the Cuban Revolution of the 1950s, the new Cuban authorities experimented with agricultural production cooperatives. Between 1977 and 1983, farmers began to collectivize into CPAs ? Cooperativa de Producci?n Agropecuaria (agricultural production cooperatives). Farmers were encouraged to sell their land to the state for the establishment of a cooperative farm, receiving payments for a period of 20 years while also sharing in the fruits of the CPA. Joining a CPA allowed individuals who were previously dispersed throughout the countryside to move to a centralized location with increased access to electricity, medical care, housing, and schools. Democratic practice tends to be limited to business decisions and is constrained by the centralized economic planning of the Cuban system.
Another type of agricultural production cooperative in Cuba is UBPC ? Unidad B?sica de Producci?n Cooperativa (basic unit of cooperative production in Spanish). The law authorizing the creation of UBPCs was passed on September 20, 1993. It has been used to transform many state farms into UBPCs, similarly to the transformation of Russian sovkhozes (state farms) into kolkhozes (collective farms) after 1992. The law granted indefinite usufruct to the workers of the UBPC in line with its goal to link the workers to the land, establish material incentives for increased production by tying workers' earnings to the overall production of the UBPC, and increase managerial autonomy and workers' participation in the management of the workplace.
the collective farms in Cuba are nutty ideas that will not work, because economies of scale kill them.
we had those in poland: PGR, państwowe sospodarstwo rolne (state agricultural farm). some worked quite well, actually - even in the communism poland was exporting goods. some did not. i guess the maintenance of those come at a killer cost to the state because of the spending involved.
so since Haiti is in Caricom.. this would seem to be their best binding trade agreement? do not know if there is another? but this would seem the most powerful one.
Press Release 70/1998
(3 September 1998)
BASIC INFORMATION ON FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN CARICOM AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed on August 22, 1998 between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Dominican Republic will establish a Free Trade Area composed of 14 million people when it comes into effect.
The FTA will come into effect either on January 1, 1999 or upon completion of a plan of action scheduled to be completed ninety days after the signing of the Agreement. Both parties will then take the necessary administrative and legal action to give effect to the Agreement.
The fundamental objective of the FTA is to strengthen trade relations between the Parties in conformity with the principles, rights and obligations of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). With the Agreement, CARICOM and the Dominican Republic are seeking to promote and expand the sale of goods between them through, inter alia, free access to each other's markets, (with some exceptions of goods), elimination of the non-tariff barriers of trade, the establishment of a system of Rules of Origin, Customs Cooperation and the Harmonization of the Technical Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary Processes. The goods excluded will eventually enter the Area, in a gradual manner until 2005.
The Parties have proposed the progressive liberalization of trade in services, the liberalization of movement of capital, the promotion and protection of investment aimed at improving the opportunities that their markets offer, and the strengthening of their competitiveness. Each party will confer to the service providers of the other, full market access and equal treatment.
Neither party will require service providers to establish or maintain offices in participating countries as a condition for the provision of services.
Further, they are looking towards promoting the active participation of the private sector with the objective of deepening and expanding economic relations, including the promotion and establishment of joint investments.
The Agreement also includes safeguard mechanisms to protect the local producers of each nation against illegal competition, harmful importations, subsidies for exports and other internal practices that cause distortion or menace to trade. Each country will also be able, in conformity with the agreement of Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary Measures of the World Trade Organisation, to establish , adopt, maintain, or apply any sanitary or phyto-sanitary measures needed for the protection of human and animal life and health, or to preserve produce in their territory.
CARICOM and the Dominican Republic will co-operate in: agriculture, mining, industry, construction, tourism, transportation, telecommunications, banking, insurance, capital markets, professional services, and science and technology.
Press Release 70/1998
(3 September 1998)
BASIC INFORMATION ON FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN CARICOM AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed on August 22, 1998 between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Dominican Republic will establish a Free Trade Area composed of 14 million people when it comes into effect.
The FTA will come into effect either on January 1, 1999 or upon completion of a plan of action scheduled to be completed ninety days after the signing of the Agreement. Both parties will then take the necessary administrative and legal action to give effect to the Agreement.
The fundamental objective of the FTA is to strengthen trade relations between the Parties in conformity with the principles, rights and obligations of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). With the Agreement, CARICOM and the Dominican Republic are seeking to promote and expand the sale of goods between them through, inter alia, free access to each other's markets, (with some exceptions of goods), elimination of the non-tariff barriers of trade, the establishment of a system of Rules of Origin, Customs Cooperation and the Harmonization of the Technical Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary Processes. The goods excluded will eventually enter the Area, in a gradual manner until 2005.
The Parties have proposed the progressive liberalization of trade in services, the liberalization of movement of capital, the promotion and protection of investment aimed at improving the opportunities that their markets offer, and the strengthening of their competitiveness. Each party will confer to the service providers of the other, full market access and equal treatment.
Neither party will require service providers to establish or maintain offices in participating countries as a condition for the provision of services.
Further, they are looking towards promoting the active participation of the private sector with the objective of deepening and expanding economic relations, including the promotion and establishment of joint investments.
The Agreement also includes safeguard mechanisms to protect the local producers of each nation against illegal competition, harmful importations, subsidies for exports and other internal practices that cause distortion or menace to trade. Each country will also be able, in conformity with the agreement of Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary Measures of the World Trade Organisation, to establish , adopt, maintain, or apply any sanitary or phyto-sanitary measures needed for the protection of human and animal life and health, or to preserve produce in their territory.
CARICOM and the Dominican Republic will co-operate in: agriculture, mining, industry, construction, tourism, transportation, telecommunications, banking, insurance, capital markets, professional services, and science and technology.
when you give people a piece of land, and give them seeds, and fertilizers, and insecticide, and irrigation, then promise them an equal share of the crop, you get zilch! where is the incentive to protect one's investment?
nice language, right? try importing Appleton Rum into the DR, and see how much of a free trade area exists.
or Barbencourt! heaven forbid ..
But the DR is the largest economy. Fully self sufficient. And with Haiti buying one quarter of its exports (where does the rest go. and what are they? I assume they must all be mostly stuff from the FTZs and high end agriculture to Europe) they had no need for any of the little markets in the other Caricom nations and could protect their own products.
But they do export to Puerto Rico. At least chickens. So maybe they can expand that market.
I have never actually seen any rum from any other country here. And that is the main product that most of the little islands have.
But the DR is the largest economy. Fully self sufficient. And with Haiti buying one quarter of its exports (where does the rest go. and what are they? I assume they must all be mostly stuff from the FTZs and high end agriculture to Europe) they had no need for any of the little markets in the other Caricom nations and could protect their own products.
But they do export to Puerto Rico. At least chickens. So maybe they can expand that market.
I have never actually seen any rum from any other country here. And that is the main product that most of the little islands have.
Chicken and eggs have a limited shelf life, but Dominican Salamis are like "Hostess Twinkies", they will last FOREVER!!!!
I always use room temp. eggs for cooking.
Since we go through several dozens a week they never have time to go bad.
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
I always use room temp. eggs for cooking.
Since we go through several dozens a week they never have time to go bad.
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
they do export to PR, but so do US producers, who get first dibs on the market.