Minister of Industry and Commerce Jose Del Castillo Savinon said on Wednesday, 28 October 2015 that the Dominican Republic would make its participation in high-level talks with the Haitian authorities conditional on the existence of previous indications of the Haitian government’s intention to comply with any agreements reached. Del Castillo said: “We are not going to Port-au-Prince to waste our time.”
Castillo Savinon issued his warning after the Haitian authorities repeatedly failed to honor previous commitments agreed upon with the Dominican authorities. This is in addition to what has become routine practice on the part of the Haitian authorities, which have taken several unilateral decisions that violate international trade regulations and without notifying the affected parties.
The minister made these statements in response to questions from El Nacional reporters about the time frame (15 days) agreed for a visit by President Danilo Medina to Haiti in order to resume talks with President Michel Martelly.
The two-week period concludes today, Thursday 29 October 2015, but Del Castillo said they should wait until the Haitians conclude matters related to last Sunday’s presidential elections.
He said that once things were back to normal, the talks, which are aimed at tackling the problems affecting cross-border trade, could resume. During an interview on the “Hoy Mismo” morning talk show, he stated emphatically that the Haitian ban on 23 Dominican products lacks any basis and in the long term the Haitian government would suffer the most through the loss of customs duties and the increase in informal trade. He said barely 30% of trade with Haiti is carried out formally.