Senator Alejandro Santos, the president of the commission that is studying the elimination of the surcharge on corn syrup (HFCS) imports, which has created an impasse with the free trade agreement signed with the United States and docked to the CAFTA, said the Senate would take its time to study the treaty. As reported in El Caribe newspaper, he said that even if the Senate eliminates the surcharge, it will not accept the Dominican version of the CAFTA until an in-depth study is carried out. “If there is a sector that may be affected by the FTA, we will see how the negative effects can be reduced. But, in the same way, we want to detect the opportunities in order to help companies take the maximum advantage of it and gain access to new markets,” said Santos.
In his opinion, the DR-CAFTA will be the instrument, second only to the Constitution, with the greatest impact on the juridical and institutional life of the country. He expects the study to be concluded in two months’ time.