12659: Food smuggling via Haitian border (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Robert Benodin <r.benodin@worldnet.att.net>

Food smuggling via Haitian border
DR1 08/08/02
El Caribe reports on a European company’s findings on the Haitian/Dominican
border trade. The research company, Aide a Decision Economique, contracted
by the European Union says that the level of food smuggling on the
Dominican-Haitian border has reached US$8 million a year. That’s about a
third of the total trade, estimated at US$21 million.
The bulk of the food contraband is rice and beans. An estimated 12,000 tons
of rice and 8,000 tons of beans, (imported into Haiti from Miami, Florida)
are illegally exported into the Dominican Republic by way of the border. The
smugglers do not pay legitimate customs taxes. Instead, bribes and other
fees are paid at different points as the shipment makes its way to Dominican
markets. The smugglers also have contacts to bypass quotas and import bans
in place to protect local farm production by the Ministry of Agriculture.
The protectionist measures work against consumer pockets, as free import of
rice would mean lower prices for the food staple. Meanwhile, the smugglers
reap high profits. The European study questions the efficiency of
maintaining the government food protectionist measures.
In addition to the re-export of the rice and beans from Miami, Haiti
primarily exports coffee, fruits (mangos, avocados, tamarinds, cashew,
grenadines), guandules, livestock, corn, tobacco and squash to the Dominican
Republic.
The Dominican Republic exports eggs, live chickens, fuel, rice bi-products,
organic banana export rejects, vegetables and Toyotas to Haiti.