The Dominican Association of Rum Producers criticized the bill approved yesterday in the Senate that ups the taxes on alcoholic beverages based on their alcoholic grade. Consumer taxes on rum are increased from 35% to 90%, while those on beer are diminished, as per the new legislation. In a paid advertisement published today, the rum producers say that while the industry is based on Dominican farm producers, most of the raw material used to produce beer is imported. Furthermore, the rum producers say that beer has experienced an accumulated ten-year growth of 59%, while rum can only show an 8% increase. “Beer has 78% of the market of alcoholic beverages in the country, but only contributes 64% of the tax revenues for the selective consumer tax,” argued the rum manufacturers.