The Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) has been entrusted by the Governments
of the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and the European Union, with the implementation of the “Trade and
Private Sector Component” of the Haiti-Dominican Republic Binational Cooperation Programme under
the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) FED/2018/399-379. This component seeks to enhance the
overall business and investment climate of Haiti and the Dominican Republic as well as the international
perceptions and images of both countries.
Attending Under objective 1, Caribbean Export seeks to facilitate greater cooperation between the
General Customs Administration of the Republic of Haiti (AGD) and the General Customs Directorate of
the Dominican Republic (DGA). In this regard, the establishment of mechanisms and procedures that will
facilitate the execution of joint inspections by the customs administrations of Haiti and the Dominican
Republic are envisaged.
Objective
The objective of this project is to develop a joint inspection protocol that will address and include the
following points and actions (among others):
- Specify when and how the goods that are the object of cross-border exchange are to be physically
inspected in the primary border areas by the customs officials of the two countries. - Specify where this inspection is to be carried out in the primary zone of the Dominican Republic
or in the primary zone of Haiti. - Review the legal texts of the two countries to find out if there are any legal incompatibilities that
prevent this joint action and how to proceed in the event of any violations of legal provisions of
one or both countries that may occur during physical inspections; specify who would apply the
sanctions according to the place where the inspection is carried out or as agreed in the inspection
protocol. - Address the recognition of the controls applied by both parties.
- Identify and evaluate the provision of capacity or physical verification areas and the use of nonintrusive verification mechanisms such as scanners etc.
- Establish directives on carrying out joint operations at the specified border points and in the most
vulnerable border areas with the highest incidence of illegal transfer of goods, among other. - Recognition of controls and inspections carried out by customs officials.
The languages of this consultancy are French and Spanish, and all proposals must be submitted
in French and Spanish.
The specific objectives are among others:
- Conduct extensive research to produce a full assessment of the relationship between the customs administrations in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
- Review the existing agreement between the General Customs Administration of the Republic of Haiti and the General Customs Directorate of the Dominican Republic.
- Conduct(s) thorough research on the body of customs regulations in force on both sides of the Haitian-Dominican Republic land border to identify any potential legal obstacles that could prevent said inspections and, in turn, propose solutions to resolve them.
