Britain’s EU exit ‘tragic’ for exporters, Dominican Republic envoy warns

Santo Domingo.- Dominican ambassador to Great Britain on Fridaysaid bilateral trade between his country and the European nation will benegatively impacted after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union.

Federico Cuello Camilo said trade with the UK is largely carriedout by the rules set out in the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), which withinthe entire European Union had achieved momentum as evidenced by 90 percent growthin 2015 compared to 2014.

He said the UK became Dominican Republic’s main destinationfor its exports to the EU in 2015, even above Spain, Germany, France and Italy.

“Brexit’s (Britain’s exit) impact would be tragic for ourexporters. After investing so much time and resources to meet the strictBritish quality standards and fair trade, tens of thousands of small cocoa orbanana producers in cooperatives would be left without access to their mostimportant European market," Cuello said, quoted by El Nacional.

The diplomat also noted that charters and regular flights"that bring many tourists and returning daily to the UK loaded withavocados, vegetables oranges and mangos, ready for sale in the markets of thatnation, would see their air cargo business evaporate from the overnightdeparture for the United Kingdom of the European Union "

Trade

Trade with the UK was more US$1.6 billion from 2010 to 2014 and more than US$255million in 2015, of which Dominican exports accounted for US$131 million, accordingto the Export and Investment Center (CEI-RD).