Dominican Republic Agriculture Minister to meet rice sector over tariff changes

The Dominican Republic's Minister of Agriculture, Francisco Oliverio Espaillat Bencosme, has scheduled a meeting for Monday in La Vega with representatives of the national rice sector. The meeting aims to establish support lines and a work agenda following the repeal of Decree 693-24, which affected rice tariff treatments under the DR-CAFTA trade agreement.

While the government has proposed an eight-point plan including financing, agricultural insurance, technical assistance, and infrastructure improvements, some producers have expressed dissatisfaction. Marcos Rodríguez, president of the National Federation of Rice Producers (FENARROZ), stated that current measures do not sufficiently address the loss of competitiveness caused by the potential influx of duty-free rice from the United States.

Producers are calling for more concrete solutions, such as functional agricultural insurance and direct access to equipment and financing, to protect the industry against the commercial opening mandated by the free trade agreement.