U.S. ambassador cautions Free Trade bills cannot be modified by Dominican congress

http://www.dominicantoday.com 02/11/06

Santo Domingo.- United States ambassador in the Dominican Republic Hans Hertell stated yesterday his satisfaction for the approval of the Implementation Law regarding the free trade agreement.

Notwithstanding, the diplomat cautioned that bills pertinent to the DR-CAFTA that bills must be approved “as agreed” and added that, specifically the law relative to government purchases, needs to be approved as accorded.

“This particular law is a sine qua non condition for implementing the free trade agreement,” affirmed the ambassador.

Hertell stated his trust in that the Congress will quickly approve these legislations.

“[Legislations] must be approved as were presented and until they are, obviously we will not implement [the FTA], said Hertell when asked about the possibility that the National Congress, using its sovereign prerogatives, modified some of the bills.

The modification to the Government Purchases Law was submitted to the National Congress, in a bill separate from the FTA implementation legislation.