A project aimaing at improving fresh produce exports from Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic (DR) is one of the fastest growing economies in the Caribbean and one of the largest Central American markets for U.S. food and agricultural products.

U.S. imports of agricultural products from DR totaled USD 413 million in 2015. Agriculture is the country’s second largest sector and has the potential to drive significant economic growth. Unfortunately, a high percentage of the country’s agricultural products are rejected due to food safety and quality concerns.

The United States Department of Agriculture is currently working to strengthen the DR’s ability to export high quality and safe fruit and vegetable products through the Exporting Quality and Safety (EQS) project.

The new program, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agriculture Service, provides technical assistance to increase the quality, productivity and sales of four key agricultural products: avocado, cocoa, pineapple, greenhouse vegetables (tomatoes, sweet peppers, cucumbers), and a wide range of exotic vegetables.

One of the main cargo companies in the DR, Caribe Cargo, is working at the request of United Parcel Service (UPS), to open a receiving terminal for fresh produce in the city of La Vega for a daily Miami-Santo Domingo-Miami air freight route. They plan on installing pre-cooling infrastructure, 500 m2 of cold rooms, and refrigerated transport to the airport.

For further information, please follow the link below.