SANTO DOMINGO.- Agriculture minister Salvador Jiménez heads a commission slated to meet Wednesday morning with Haiti president René Préval, to request that he lift the ban on Dominican products from entering his country, especiallhy chickens and eggs.

After meeting with Préval, the commission will speak with Haitian business leaders to convince them that the chickens and eggs aren’t affected by the bird flu virus. Other senior officials and leaders of the poultry farmers association are part of the commission, in addition to Jimenez.

After Haiti’s ban on 7  January, the country has lost more than US$1.5 million, according to the government’s Export and Investment Center (CEI-RD).