Luis Bonilla, in charge of the banana policy department at the Ministry of Agriculture, forecasts the DR will export 100,000 metric tons of bananas this year. This would be equivalent to the record exports of the 1994 boom year. He told El Caribe newspaper that the DR benefited from the reordering in the world banana market. This enabled the DR to export bananas without restrictions, other than quality restrictions. The DR also benefited from the elimination of tariffs through 2006, when new terms will be negotiated within the World Trade Organization framework. According to preliminary reports, so far this year 36,000 metric tons have been exported. In 2000, the country exported 70,000 metric tons. In 1999 some 59,000, and in 1997, 71,000 metric tons were exported.
