The Customs Department announced that as of 10 September it would double the charge for imports arriving without having paid the consular invoice fee. The new charge will be RD$12,000 per shipment. On 30 August, Customs issued notification that it would be increasing the present charge of RD$6,500. The president of the National Association of Wholesale Importers, Domingo Espinal Collado, said that the increase is excessive, arbitrary and inopportune. He told Hoy newspaper that instead of eliminating the consular invoice, as President Leonel Fernandez had promised to do in his past government, a step backward has been taken by increasing the charge. Espinal Collado said that the consular invoice is a non-tariff barrier to trade and that its upped cost will dishearten the people, who are expecting reduced prices of goods in light of the recent appreciation of the peso. He said the worst thing would be for every government institution to start doubling or tripling the taxes and fees that they apply administratively. He requested that Congress review the situation of the consular invoice in the tax reform currently being studied in the Senate. Espinal Collado said that apart from the Dominican Republic, the only other country that applies such a fee is Nigeria.
He said imports are already being hit by a 10% exchange commission, a surcharge of 2% on imports, the expected increase in the ITBIS from 10 to 16%, plus new taxes on financial transactions.