The complaint was filed in October 2010 after the Dominican Republic imposed duties of as much as 38 percent on imports of the sacks, used to pack foods and agro-industrial and industrial products, as a temporary step to protect its producers. Such “safeguard measures” are permitted when imports of a product damage or threaten to harm a specific domestic industry.

WTO judges in Geneva today agreed with the complaining countries that the safeguard wasn’t justified because the Dominican Republic failed to prove its domestic industry had been damaged...... read more

Read also: Dominican Republic loses preliminary WTO ruling

The case was brought by Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala after the Dominican Republic introduced a 38 percent tax on the imports to protect its own producers.......

Doing business in the Dominican Republic, or NOT! (Update - Leonel fails to attract investors)

Rule of law is not enforced and poses serious risks to foreign companies and investors. The main hindrances emerge from the widespread corruption in the public sector, and the politicisation of justice. Foreign companies face significant uncertainty when dealing in the DR...... and President has not been able to attract investors!

More difficult to do business in the Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic has dropped five notches to position 91 of 183 countries in the World Bank Group Doing Business 2011 Report released yesterday says.........

Dominican Republic falls deeper into competitiveness abyss

The DR continues in the bottom third in the overall rankings in The Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011, released by the World Economic Forum yesterday. The DR ranked 101st of 139 countries. Last year the DR was ranked 97th out of a list of 133 countries.......