SANTO DOMINGO.- The president of the American Chamber of  Commerce affirmed that important advances in the efficiency and streamlining Customs process have been obtained in the Dominican Republic.

Kevin Manning also praised an agreement that will be signed today by Customs Agency, the United States Embassy and the Punta Caucedo Multimodal port, that will allow Dominican merchandise to enter the North American market more expeditiously.

He said that Customs is doing well in relation to the country’s DR-CAFTA commitments and that the documents it issues are within the Free Trade Agreement’s framework.

He stated that the Customs director Miguel Cocco has a team that is working so that the Customs process is more agile and efficient, adding that the Chamber has a committee that works in several fronts with that entity, to make the foreign trade process more agile.

In that regard, he cited Customs’ announcement last week that, as the result of the passing and application of the law giving it budgetary and financial autonomy, merchandise would be dispatched in 48 hours in the first year, and 24 hours in the second year.

The business leader affirmed that if Customs completes that process in that time it would improve competitiveness, as industry requires the expeditious retrieval of raw materials.

American Chamber of  Commerce executive director William Malamud also spoke  on the subject, explaining that Customs has been receptive to speeding up the Customs process and to make it more efficient

As to the agreement which will be signed today, Malamud said that this project will assure that the ships that depart from the Caucedo port will receive a “fast track” treatment in United States Customs, which in his view would also expedite the foreign trade process.