The Haitian Bureau of Standardization (BHN) and the Dominican Institute for Quality (INDOCAL) have launched a sophisticated communication platform to strengthen trade relations between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

This online communication tool, which was provided by the Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) with funding from the European Union, is part of the implementation of the Dominican Republic Binational Cooperation Program Trade Agreements -Haiti, under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF).

Executive Director of Caribbean Export, Deodat Maharaj, underscored the programme’s goals, stating: “It is designed not only to enhance trade between the two countries, but also to create an enabling business environment in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, so that they become more competitive internationally.”

Trade between the two countries in 2019 was estimated at US $820 million, and disparities between quality and conformity standards led to the duplication of efforts and spending on conformity assessments by companies to export and import products between the two countries that share the same land border.

Given the Binational Programme focus on the value chains of cocoa/chocolate, essential oils/cosmetics and handicrafts, BHN and INDOCAL will also focus on harmonizing and developing norms for products from these sectors.

These sectors are critical to the economies of both countries. The production of Vetiver oil in Haiti, for example, creates jobs for over 60,000 producers. The cosmetic industry is also a growing sector in the Dominican Republic, with exports of cosmetics having increased by 30% during the 2013-2017 period. The Dominican Republic is a global leader in the production of organic cocoa, with exports estimated at US $261 million in 2015.

According to Monorde Civil, Director of the BHN, “Cooperation among national, regional and international standards bodies is of paramount importance to tackling technical trade barriers. It is in this sense that BHN and INDOCAL have embarked on this initiative to create and use this platform to reinforce collaboration and the national quality infrastructure in both countries."

HL/ HaïtiLibre