To ensure that there not be a repeat of the entry of pests such as the Mediterranean fruit fly, the ministries of Agriculture and Defense and the General Customs Agency (DGA) signed an agreement to work together to guarantee the safety of food grown in the Dominican Republic.
The outbreak of the Mediterranean fruit fly in the Dominican Republic was first reported in March 2015 near the popular tourist city of Punta Cana, and rapidly spread to a 2,000 square km area in the east of the country. Although 200 km away from producing areas, an immediate import ban was placed on several agricultural products, including avocado, citrus fruits, papaya and peppers, by major trading partners, such as the United States, Haiti and Japan. The ban resulted in an estimated loss of more than US$42 million in fruit and vegetable exports in 2015 alone, putting thousands of jobs at risk. It took the country two years to eradicate the pest.
The agreement was signed by Defense Minister Ruben Darío Paulino Sem, Agriculture Minister Osmar Benítez and Customs director Enrique Ramírez at the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense. It establishes that the Ministry of Agriculture will assume the custody of the agricultural goods resulting from seizures or confiscations of agricultural products, without prejudice to the penalties and fines provided by Plant Health Law No. 49-90.
With the signing of the agreement, the Ministry of Agriculture takes on the responsibility to monitor the animal and vegetable quarantine operations in the country. The Ministry of Defense will provide national security, in ports of entry, including airports and seaports and land border crossings. The DGA agreed to be responsible for the legal procedures for the entry or exit of products to the country.
The Dominican Republic is a signatory to the Convention for the Constitution of the International Organization for Plant and Animal Health (OIRSA) and the International Plant Protection Convention.
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El Nuevo Diario
14 January 2019
