The director general of Customs and president of the National Trade Facilitation Committee (CNFC), Eduardo Sanz Lovatón, celebrated the creation of the Logistics Development Cabinet, through Presidential Decree number 263-23.
“After much work and coordination, logistics, which is an essential arm of any country’s foreign trade, now has the rank of one of the presidential cabinets,” said Sanz Lovatón.
During the twenty-first plenary session of the CNFC, held this Thursday, the official considered that this decree, forces to redouble the efforts that are already being made from the DGA and the CNFC with all its members, to position the country as a world-class logistics hub, and thus, make logistics a major economic line.
“The Dominican government knows that this is one of the strategic axes that can turn us into a first-world economy,” added the director of Customs in reference to logistics.
Meanwhile, Perla de la Rosa, of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic (AMCHAMDR), in her capacity as secretary of the CNFC, announced that the Euro Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic and the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in the Dominican Republic are the new members of the committee.
She also announced changes in the organizational structure of the CNFC, such as the designation of a “trade facilitator”, who should be a neutral entity in the public and private sector, and who will have a presence in the country’s ports and airports, to ensure compliance with the agreements signed with the World Trade Organization (WTO).
During this plenary session of the CNFC, the working groups of which it is composed rendered accounts of their work and presented their progress.
De la Rosa also emphasized that the work of the CNFC will continue to focus on the continuous improvement of facilitation, the Canine Unit, the Foreign Trade Single Window (VUCE), the handling of perishable products and land transportation of goods, the latter in coordination with the National Institute of Transit and Land Transportation (Intrant).
It is recalled that, in the previous CNFC plenary, the notification to the WTO, of the 100% compliance with the goals that the country committed to during the Bali Ministerial Conference, in 2013, was reported.
About the CNFC
The purpose of the CNFC is to facilitate internal coordination and implementation of the provisions of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement, in addition to serving as a permanent roundtable for dialogue to address issues related to trade facilitation and logistics.
The Trade Facilitation Committee is made up of the main government ministries (Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, Foreign Affairs, Defense, Public Health, the Dominican Republic Export and Investment Center (CEI-DR), the National Competitiveness Council (CNC) and the National Council of Free Zones (CNZF), as well as the main business sector groups, including the AIDR, CONEP and AMCHADR, in a public-private alliance.
Source: presidencia.gov.do
