Kraft Foods Introduces New Cocoa Scheme

In a commitment with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Cocoa Partnership initiative of Kraft Foods is planning to increase the yield and quality of Dominican cocoa.

The program will provide training on farming techniques for about for about 10,000 small-scale cocoa farmers in the country.

Bharat Puri, senior vice president, global chocolate, Kraft Foods said, “The challenges facing today’s cocoa farmer cannot be solved by any one company or organization. Only by working together – public and private sectors along with farmers and civil society – will we be able to make the difference that’s needed.”

Kraft Foods Inc. stocks were at 34.85 at the end of the last day’s trading. There’s been a 0.0% change in the stock price over the past 3 months.


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Source: eMoney Daily

Tarantulas seized at Zurich Airport

Customs agents at Zurich Airport have blocked the delivery of 261 tarantulas shipped from the Dominican Republic.

The arachnids in question are Mexican redknee tarantulas – a protected species, according to a statement released by the Zurich customs investigation office on Wednesday.

Customs workers had found the individually-wrapped tarantulas packed in six cartons in August; ten of the large furry spiders had apparently died during the journey.

Zurich Zoo is taking care of the tarantulas for now; the creatures will eventually be placed in permanent homes. Their venom is not considered dangerous to humans.

The man who had ordered them is a Swiss spider breeder and dealer. When the authorities inspected his home they found 665 tarantulas as well as 72 meat-eating centipedes.

He had imported these illegally by post from central America, but he can keep them because their species are not under protection. However, he will be cited for breaching VAT law.

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Source: Swiss Info

Dominican Republic loses preliminary WTO ruling

The World Trade Organization has issued a preliminary ruling against the Dominican Republic's tariffs on imports of polypropylene bags and tubular fabric, according to a text obtained by Reuters on Thursday.

The case was brought by Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala after the Dominican Republic introduced a 38 percent tax on the imports as a temporary measure to protect its own producers.

Use of such temporary protection, so-called "safeguard measures", is permitted under WTO rules if a specific industry is at serious risk because of an increase in imports.

But the preliminary report, which was issued by the WTO's dispute settlement body on Wednesday and is likely to be finalised near the end of November, agreed with the complaint and found the Dominican Republic's action was not justified. (Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Karolina Tagaris)

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Source: Reuters Africa

Strike shuts down Dominican Republic university

Professors and other employees at the Dominican Republic's biggest public university have gone on strike and left 185,000 students without classes.

The protesters are seeking a total of $520,000 in back pay, a 15 percent wage boost and demanding the government allocate $18 million more for a university that now operates on a $109 million budget.

Chancellor Mateo Aquino says the university has a $693 million deficit and can't afford to raise salaries??.

The university professors' federation plans to march to Congress on Monday.

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Source: Money MSN

More Royal Caribbean ships will visit the Dominican Republic in 2012-2013

After several meetings with three major cruise lines that touch Dominican ports, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Radhames Martinez Aponte, said the country should feel satisfied with the achievements so far in the event organized by the Association of Cruise Florida and the Caribbean (FCCA). Among the FCCA members is Royal Caribbean, who agreed to increase the amount of passengers that will visit the country in 2012-2013.

"During the meetings we held with Royal Caribbean, MSC and Norwegian have promised us that from the 2012-2013 season will increase the number of cruise ships or cruise the ability of playing the Dominican Republic, which would raise the number of tourists coming this way, "said Martinez Aponte.

Michael Roman, vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean for Royal Caribbean, acknowledged the efforts being made by the Ministry of Tourism to further improve the conditions of ports and the changes they have experienced.

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Source: Royal Caribbean

Village Farms to pack bell peppers in Dominican Republic

Village Farms International is beginning packing sweet bell peppers at a new facility in Santiago, Dominican Republic, in October.

“We should be fully operational by the end of the month,” said Stephen Ruffini, chief financial officer of Vancouver, Canada-based Village Farms International.

The packing and distribution site will operate under a new subsidiary, Village Farms DR, SRL.

It offers computerized grading machinery, value-added packaging, cold storage, certified quality assurance and the company’s Global Food Safety Initiative programs.

“Growers there have been selling their produce to wholesalers in the Dominican Republic who have connections to various U.S. wholesalers,” Ruffini said. “Nobody had a packhouse. There was a lot of lost product not handled properly in the cold chain. Growers weren’t happy with the pricing they received. It was haphazard.”

“What we’re selling is a fully operational packhouse and cooler. Bring your peppers to us and we’ll pay X. Mexico has made that transition to modern packing facilities over the last 10 years. We’re really the first to do so in the Dominican Republic.”

The site is expected to start operations with 15 employees.

Village Farms will also manage export logistical services of its packaged, branded peppers for distribution in the U.S.

The company has partner greenhouse growers in high-elevation areas of the Dominican Republic, the optimal locations for bell peppers.

“(The) Caribbean region is poised to become a consistent supplier of hydroponic greenhouse-grown sweet bell peppers to the U.S.,” Michael Minerva, senior vice president of grower relations supply development, said in a news release. “Village Farms has engaged in this project to meet its growing customer demand for greenhouse grown bell peppers.”

Village Farms has greenhouse facilities in Texas and British Columbia. The company markets primarily to retail grocers and fresh-food distributors in the U.S. and Canada.

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Source: The Packer

Dominican Republic Aims to Have Merengue Deemed a National Treasure

Dominican Republican Senators Fernando Mateo Vasquez and Manuel Antonio Paula have asked the Ministry of Culture to submit Dominican merengue as a candidate for UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage list.

The importance of intangible cultural heritage according to the UNESCO is not the cultural manifestation itself but rather the wealth of knowledge and skills that is transmitted through it from one generation to the next.

Musicians Dioni Fernandez and Manuel Tejada initiated the measure. The Ministry now needs to present the application to the evaluation committee that meets in Paris in November.

If approved, this will be the DR’s fourth UNESCO listing after Santo Domingo Colonial City received one in 1990, the Brotherhood of the Holy Spirit Congos of Villa Mella in 2008 and the Cocolo Dance Drama Tradition, also in 2008.

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Source: Hispanically Speaking