The timing of the talks with the United States aimed at securing a regional free trade agreement in conjunction with the Central American nations could be disadvantageous for the Dominican Republic, warned economists from CIECA (Caribbean Center for Economic Research), in a report in Listin Diario. Miguel Ceara Hatton, Pavel Isa Contreras and Federico Cuello opined that the three-month period set out for the bilateral talks was too short, and that a multi-lateral negotiation would have been preferable. Speaking at a seminar organized by CIECA, Ceara Hatton said that negotiations would be limited to market-access lists, which would limit the Dominican Republic’s capacity to implement development policies. Isa Contreras said that these treaties, though necessary, did not take into account the varying sizes and capacities of participating countries. What is important is that countries are able to implement development policies, according to the CIECA economist. He warned that the DR may be in danger of being “left behind” with the signing of the agreement, and that the free trade zones may be excluded from the treaty, thus forcing the country to change its policy for this sector in 2008. “Basically, we are signing a blank check,” said Isa Conteras. There are some areas that will not be covered by the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), including agriculture and development policy, which will probably lead to an additional treaty named “FTAA plus”, in which the government may have to renounce some of its preferential trade terms as well as some of its policies. “All that is going to be discussed is market-access lists. The DR could be left with decreased access.” According to Ceara Hatton, the theme of development has been absent from the reform process. He feels what is needed are systematic policies, because there is no automatic link between growth, trade and development, and that policy makers have forgotten that these days it is development, not trade, that counts.
For more on the agreement, see http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_47/b3859087_mz015.htm