dominican republic border crossing

Martelly and Medina meet on road transport ban.

Haiti´s unilateral decision of import ban of 23 Dominican products since the first week of October, 2015, could choke 88.72% of US$ 467.9 million annual trade between the two countries. As per the decision, the banned items cannot cross the land border, but they can enter by boat or plane on payment of taxes to the capital of Port-au-Prince or in the northern coastal town of Cap Haitien. The Haitian government imposed the ban despite the request of the Dominican Government that Haiti should "rethink" and they even ignored European Union's warning that price of foods and other items in Haiti could go up by 40%. The Haitian merchants had threatened that they would defy the ban unless the Finance Ministry suspends the ban till October 1, because otherwise they won't be able to meet their financial commitments. On October 13, 2015, at the request of the Haitian President Michelle Martelly, the Dominican President Danilo Medina met him in a high level meeting at the airport Maria Montez, in Barahona, Dominican Republic. The two Presidents have discussed to resolve the crisis arising out of the transport ban and have decided to form a committee within a fortnight to determine ways to solve the crisis.

Permalink | Comments

Here is a picture of the usual activities that take place regularly on the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic where many smuggling operations take place

As per news report dated July 1, 2015, Carl-Frédéric Madsen, the President of the Association of the Industries of Haiti (ADIH) has expressed his deep concern about the rising smuggling activities in the border area with the Dominican Republic and also in the provincial ports and the capital city. Smuggled merchandises create unfair competition and threaten the existence of the local Haitian traders and manufacturers by pushing them towards bankruptcy. Such act of smuggling is further weakening the national security through illicit goods and curbing the state revenue by $300 million, every year. ADIH has urged the state to take immediate actions to eliminate this scourge as it is threatening our national economy. The fight against smuggling will encourage our local businessmen and create many new investment opportunities. ADIH is ready to extend their unconditional support in this movement.

Permalink | Comments

Here is a picture of the border between Haiti and Dominican Republic on a market day. Market Day in Dajabon allows Haitians and Dominicans to buy and sell their products freely. The border betweenHaiti and Dominican Republic is closely monitored however, that does not prevent Haitians from crossing the border on a regular basis in search of job

Permalink | Comments