Diario Libre newspaper reports that the last few days have seen intense consultations at the US-DR free trade talks going on in Washington, DC. Late-night sessions that lasted well into the wee hours of the morning marked the weekend talks, where extraordinary efforts to iron out all the wrinkles of the agreement have been made. Yesterday, the negotiators met at the offices of the United States Trade Representative, where some of the demands of the US threatened to place the talks on thin ice. The contentious issue of intellectual property was settled on Saturday, but the question of several agricultural products was still on the table, as journalistic discretion would not reveal precisely what the US demands were. An agreement is expected to be signed in the second half of June of this year.
One statement said that “there were still some sensitive points to be cleared up,” meaning that US priorities were highly sensitive for the DR. Osmar Benitiz had stated three weeks before the talks started that he and his group had complete liberty to negotiate for the farm sector.
Dominican Ambassador Hugo Guiliani Cury told reporters that the US President’s advisors may feel the commercial agreement is not his best interests in view of the upcoming elections, and that it was possible that voting on the bill could be put off until next year.
Chief negotiator Sonia Guzman de Hernandez gave Listin Diario reporter Candida Acosta an exclusive interview, in which she revealed the work that went on all of last week. Guzman said that while 98% of the package had been worked out, there are no further meetings scheduled, seemingly indicating that the D-CAFTA, as it is being called, is a done deal. She spoke about Law 173, which affects the representatives of major brands in the DR. When asked about the issues concerning poultry legs and rice, the Industry & Commerce minister limited her comments to saying that these, indeed, were sticking points and the access to the Dominican market was still being discussed. She also reserved any comments on the problems facing the pharmaceutical industry for a later press conference. When questioned as to whether or not Zoellick intervened in the talks, the minister revealed that Zoellick had not participated in the Central American talks and, in order to preserve equal treatment, he similarly refrained from participating in these talks as well.