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Central America Wins Dispute with Dominican Republic

The WTO has provisionally determined that the measures imposed by the Dominican Republic, charging tariffs of up to 38% on imports of certain products from the region, are inconsistent with its trade obligations.

Friday, October 21, 2011

The lawsuit filed at the World Trade Organization (WTO) by El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Costa Rica objected to the high tariffs imposed by the Caribbean country on products from the region.

According to an article in Prensalibre.com: "The preliminary report, which will be submitted to the Settlement Dispute Body of the WTO in late December or early January, concludes that the Dominican government acted "inconsistently "with their obligations, not only regarding the Safeguards Agreement, but also with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The Dominican Republic has rejected the claims, asserting that the dispute doesn’t have any foundation."

The Guatemalan Economy Minister, Luis Velasquez said, "This is a clear message to the Dominican Republic that in future they should not impose arbitrary measures or safeguards unilaterally, without prior documentation."

Source: prensalibre.com

Key entities

World Trade Organization Luis Velásquez

Countries

Dominican Republic Central America

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WTO Rules Against Dominican Republic

November 2011

A complaint by Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador over tariffs on woven and polypropylene bags, has obtained a favorable ruling.

The arbitration panel of the World Trade Organization (WTO) today released its final report, which stated that safeguard measures imposed by the Dominican Republic in 2010 on polypropylene and woven bags from Costa Rica was a violation

WTO Confirms Dominican Republic Violated Rules

February 2012

The report argues that tariffs on Central American imports imposed by the Dominican Central on tubular fabric and polypropylene bags, of up to 38%, are in violation of its rules.

The Central American tariffs on imports of tubular fabric and polypropylene bags, imposed by the Dominican Republic, are in violation of the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), said a report by the agency.

Dominican Tariffs to Remain Until April

February 2012

Although a WTO ruling said that the taxes and polypropylene bags and tubular fabric from Central America violate their rules, they will not be removed until April 2012.

The Dominican Republic has announced that it will keep the tariffs on tubular fabric and polypropylene products from Central America in place until April, even though the World Trade Organization (WTO) considers that they have violated international trade rules, according to the AP as reported by the online edition La Prensa Grafica.

Costa Rica Resumes Shipments of Tubular Bags to Dominican Republic

May 2012

The first exports of polypropylene and fabric tubular bags entered the Dominican Republic after the WTO ordered the country to eliminate the safeguard measure imposed on imports from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

From a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica (Comex):

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