American Chamber conclave to mull protection of consumers’ health, rights

Santo Domingo.- The American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAMDR)will host on September 29 an working breakfast organized by the TradeFacilitation Committee to address the issue: "Labelling and HealthRegistration: Solutions for a positive impact Dominican consumer and trade,"in the heels of the government’s recent steps designed to guarantee and protectconsumers’ health and right to be informed of the categories of products in themarket.

“Government authorities reported that starting August 1 dairyproducts and their derivatives for human consumption or for catering purposes cannotbe marketed in the country if they don’t comply with the labeling requirementsset out in Dominican Standard NORDOM 53, on the General Labelling of prepackagedFoods, fourth revision, dated November 27, 2014,” the AMCHAMDR said in anemailed statement.

Two other measures were also announced: As of January 1,2017, all domestically produced and imported food products must have thecurrent Health Registry, and second, imported foods, regardless of the conveyanceor packaging introduced to the country, must comply with the supplementary inclusionlabel as NORDOM 53 specifies, that the label should be placed at its origin.

“In this regard, the country’s sovereign right isundeniable to apply our regulations and the right of the Dominican consumer toinformation on products, and therefore, the AMCHAMDR Committee on TradeFacilitation has proposed this conclave to provide answers and solutions on theimpact of these measures on the country’s competitiveness, how they will affectthe prices of products and their availability in the market, solution to thetangible delays in granting of sanitary records and analyze opportunities toimprove which exist to meet all objectives of the measures.”

The AMCHAMDR adds that a panel of experts will analyze consequencesand make proposals for solutions including: Drugs, Food and Medical Devices andPharmaceuticals Agency (DIGEMAPS) director Karina Mena, Grupo Rica CEO PedroBrache, National Retailers Organization (ONEC) president Antonio Ramos, and Headrick,Rizik, Alvarez and Fernandez law firm senior partner Lilly Acevedo, with AMCHAMDRTrade Facilitation Committee president Alexander Schad as moderator.

More information: Ievents@amcham.org.do