The Dominican Republic representative before the World Trade Organization, Federico Alberto Cuello urged Congress to pass the Codigo de Ordenamiento de Mercado, a bill that establishes free competition practices. He said that the Dominican Republic authorities should be concerned with the expected merges of American Airlines and TWA and that of Iberia and Air Europa. He explains these mergers will eliminate the little competition there is at the moment. He said that air fares will increase as a consequence of the mergers. He said that if the bill would be approved, the nation would have a legal instrument to oppose these mergers. He pointed to the case of the European Union successfully opposing the merger of British Airways and American Airlines. He also alerts to the catastrophic consequences an American Airlines strike would have on the DR given the dominant position of AA in the local market. (5 March 2001)
