The 25th International Sugar Organization (ISO) Council Session will be held at the Coral Costa Caribe in Juan Dolio from 27-29 April to discuss the challenges of globalization and free trade agreements for the sugar industry. Among the topics to be tackled is the initiative to use cane alcohol in a mixture with gasoline to diversify the industry and the sugar market, as viewed through regional multilateral agreements, such as Mercosur and NAFTA.
Representatives from 25 countries are registered. The event will be chaired by Peter Baron, the executive director of the ISO, and speakers will hail from the DR, Argentina, Guatemala, Mexico and the US. The DR is the largest sugar exporter to the US, and in 2003, the country?s six sugar mills produced about 500,000 tons of sugar ? 185,000 of which were exported, according to the ISO.