News reports over the weekend of Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 March suggest that Barrick Pueblo Viejo had declared the United States and not the Dominican Republic as the source of the gold exports made from the Dominican Republic in the Single Customs Declaration (DUA). Company spokespersons described this as “a mistake.”
The information was released after the meeting of Barrick Pueblo Viejo officers with Customs Department (DGA) officers following the holding up of a gold export shipment on Wednesday, 13 March when the company refused to break the seals that would allow Customs to verify the export.
At the meeting held to review differences for the authorization of the shipment with the attendance of Customs director Fernando Fernandez, deputy technical director Eduardo Rodriguez, technology director Heriberto Minaya, advisor to the director Gregorio Lora and Josefina Abreu, in charge of legal matters for the DGA. Barrick Pueblo Viejo was represented by Mejico Angeles, who is in charge of governmental affairs, Felix Caraballo for the shipping security contractor Alfamar Security Services, Juana Barcelo, legal director for Barrick Gold.
Mejico Angeles told journalists it was agreed the company would provide additional information that the DGA had requested but referred journalists to the Customs department spokesmen for more information.
The information about the wrong origin statement was revealed when the DGA held up the shipment that would have been dispatched by air on Wednesday, 13 March.
According to the Barrick statement, the shipment is of 214.83 kilograms of gold sheets for mining use and 636.19 kilograms of silver.
From November 2012 to present, the company has made 14 to 20 shipments.
Former Environment Minister Max Puig asked why the Dominican government had not supervised any exports until now and called for transparency in the Barrick exports.
www.elcaribe.com.do/2013/03/16/barrick-puso-.-como-pais-origen-oro
www.acento.com.do/index.php/news/59781/56/Max-Puig-pide-transparencia-en-exportaciones-de-oro.html