U.S. Allocates US$6.5Mn To Extend TraSa Project In Dominican Republic By Two Years

• The U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic announced the extension of Project TradeSafe (TraSa), part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food for Progress program, for two more years, with an additional investment of approximately US$6.5Mn.
• The USDA’s Food for Progress Program supports developing countries and emerging democracies to modernize and strengthen their agricultural sectors. Its main objectives are to improve farm productivity and expand trade in agricultural products.
• More specifically, the initiative of the USDA’s Food for Progress program, implemented in the Dominican Republic by the U.S. NGO Improving Economies for Stronger Communities (IESC), seeks to facilitate trade in agricultural products by improving sanitary and phytosanitary practices and optimising the processes involved in them.
• The Director of Customs, Mr Sanz Lovatón, highlighted how the TraSa Project has been a key ally in different critical initiatives that have strengthened the export processes of Dominican products and transformed the country into a regional logistics hub.
• During the activity, the director of the TraSa Project, Mr Brian Rudert, summarized the lines of work on which the project will focus in the next two years, including strengthening capacities in risk-based inspection systems and registrations, improving coordination mechanisms such as the National Committee on Trade Facilitation and the National Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, as well as the improvement of capacities and surveillance mechanisms in terms of safety, among others.

(Source: Dominican Today)