The Dominican Agronomists’ Association (ADIA) is warning that the country could be affected by more agricultural infestations due to the Ministry of Agriculture’s poor technical management of new pests and diseases. ADIA president Cesar Matos said that the quality of services provided by the Ministry’s plant health inspection unit has deteriorated, making it easier for fresh farm products to enter from abroad.
Matos said that government officials are hiding this new threat that has been identified to reduce the impact of another scandal. Matos said that the “love of money of many officials around Minister Angel Estevez has eroded the quality of the technical services provided to producers, exporters and importers,” as reported in El Nuevo Diario.
Matos said that there is currently “a chain of corruption” in the Ministry of Agriculture’s health inspection department that has excluded the better professionals from the system. Instead, they have hired “specialists” who are only concerned with charging fees to exporters and importers.
He said that is the main reason why Medfly is in the country.
He added that the authorities at the Ministry of Agriculture are responsible for the entry of Medfly because they signed transit authorizations for at least three shipments of Peruvian produce. That authorization, according to Matos, was in violation of Resolution 84-96 that establishes the food safety protocol for fruits and vegetables passing through Dominican ports.
He said that the pest was able to enter the country due to the poor quality of the Ministry of Agriculture plant health inspection team (Sanidad Vegetal). He called for the team to be restructured to make it more effective.
Matos directly blames Minister of Agriculture Estevez and Plant Health Inspection director Emigdio Gomez for signing the authorization for the transit of contaminated Peruvian mangos (at least the last three shipments). They were detected at the Punta Cana International Airport before being shipped on to Europe. Subsequently, major Dominican exports, including avocados and bell peppers, were banned from US markets.
He said that it was unheard of for these officials to remain in their posts after having ruined the country’s economy. The ADIA president said that their lack of responsibility completely wipes out the work done by the government, which invested RD$30 billion to improve farm systems, logistics and quality of exports.
Matos said it would take some time for the US to lift the Medfly ban on export of fruits and vegetables. He said the country had expected to export US$2 billion, but this will be reduced by the pest that damages the fruit pulp and speeds up the rotting process.
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