Martino Meloni and Manuel de Torres Simó, the representative of the European Union and the Commercial attaché at the Spanish Embassy, say that Dominican free trade zone exports of clothing to the European Union under the Lome IV Convention are entitled to the same preferential conditions sought by CARICOM in the U.S. market with the passing of a textile parity clause. But they also think that for the country to reap the benefits it must first improve product quality and increase production and efficiency in the free trade zones.
In 1990 the country joined the Lome IV Convention, which allows products made in the former European colonies in Asia, the Caribbean, and the Pacific to enter the EU market duty-free, provided 60 percent of the valued-added of the imported products originates in a beneficiary country or the EU. Most Lome members, however, including the Dominican Republic, have been unable to capitalize on this opportunity because of their weak industrial bases. About 95 percent of Dominican free trade zone output is currently shipped to the United States.