The news daily Listin Diario reports that the Chancellery (External Relations Ministry) will propose next Tuesday to the National Trade Negotiations Committee (CNNC) the creation of a new trade coordinating group or body. The CNNC was created by the Fernández Government in February 1997 to coordinate certain trade negotiations. It is composed of the Ministers of External Relations, Agriculture, Finance and Industry and Commerce, as well as the Technical Secretary of the Presidency, the Central Bank Governor, the Director of the Dominican Export Promotion Center (CEDOPEX), the Customs Director, the Director of the Investment Promotion Office (OPI) and the national Lome Convention coordinator. The CNNC has coordinated the DR’s negotiations for the free trade agreement (FTA) concluded with Central America and those still underway with the Caribbean Common Market (CARICOM). It likely would also coordinate any negotiations that might be launched with nations that have requested FTAs with the DR, namely Chile, Cuba, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Venezuela. However, the CNNC does not oversee (1) the trade talks underway for a hemisphere-wide Free Trade Area of the Americas; (2) preparations for the next round of trade negotiations under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO); (3) negotiations now underway with the European Union (EU) regarding the update of the Lome Convention on trade and investment flows between the EU and former colonies of EU nations. The first is not overseen by any interagency group, while the latter two have their own specialized coordination committees. One of the conclusions of the National Dialogue on reform of the state reached earlier this year was a call for unified management of trade negotiations and trade strategy formation. This past November Industry and Commerce Deputy Minister Marcelo Puello complained that the dispersion of trade responsibilities is hurting the DR in trade talks and he noted that most nations have set up centralized trade coordinator functions in their Commerce Ministries. The Chancellery proposal to create a new trade coordination and oversight body may be an attempt to head off any transfer of the lead in trade negotiations from that body to the Industry and Commerce Ministry.
