G/SCM/N/284/DOM  
G/SCM/N/290/DOM  
10 June 2016  
(16-3179)  Page: 1/7  
Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures  Original: Spanish  
 
  SUBSIDIES 
NEW AND FULL NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE XVI:1 OF THE GATT 1994 AND 
ARTICLE 25 OF THE AGREEMENT ON SUBSIDIES AND COUNTERVAILING MEASURES 
TRANSPARENCY NOTIFICATION CONCERNING  THE EXTENSIONS PROVIDED FOR IN 
ARTICLE 27.4 OF THE AGREEMENT ON SUBSIDIES AND COUNTERVAILING 
MEASURES OF THE TRANSITION PERIOD FOR THE ELIMINATION OF 
EXPORT SUBSIDIES, GRANTED PU RSUANT TO THE PROCEDURES 
IN THE GENERAL COUNCIL DECISION WT/L/691 
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC  
The following communication, dated 12 April 2016, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of the Dominican Republic. 
 
_______________ 
 
 In accordance with paragraph 2(c) of the General Council Decision of 27 July 2007 contained in 
document WT/L/691, the Dominican Republic hereby submits its updated annual notification 
c o v e r i n g  t h e  c a l e n d a r  y e a r  2 0 1 4 .  A l s o  i n c l u d e d  a s  a n  i n t e g r a l  p a r t  o f  t h i s  n o t i f i c a t i o n ,  i n  accordance with paragraphs 1(e) and (f) of the Decision, is information concerning measures taken with regard to the action plan for eliminating the export subsidies under the notified programme 
and the notification of beneficiarie s. This notification is also submitted as a new and full notification 
for 2015, pursuant to Article XVI:1 of the GATT 1994 and Article 25.1 of the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures. G/SCM/N/284/DOM • G/SCM/N/290/DOM 
- 2 - 
In accordance with the format of the questionnaire in document G/SCM/6, prepared and adopted 
by the Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, the Dominican Republic hereby notifies the following:  
1. Title of the subsidy programme, if relevant, or brief description or identification of 
the subsidy 
 
Law No. 8-90 to "promote the establishment of new free zones and expand existing ones", which 
establishes a tax-exemption programme for enterprises manufacturing goods or providing services, located within geographic areas known as free zones.  
2. Period covered by the notification 
 This notification covers the period 1 January to 31 December 2014. 
 
3.  Policy objective and/or purpose of the subsidy  
The objectives of the programme are, inter alia , job creation, workforce training, development of 
social responsibility programmes, promotion of ba lance-of-payments equilibrium (foreign exchange 
generation) and establishment of regional economic and social development programmes.  
4. Background and authority for the subsidy (including identification of the 
legislation under which it is granted) 
 
The underlying reasons for this programme were to provide training, to transfer technology, to 
attract local and foreign investment and to create employment at various points within the national territory, including in economically deprived areas, such as the border areas with Haiti. This 
programme was created under Law No. 8-90 of 15 January 1990. 
 5. Form of the subsidy (i.e. grant, loan, tax concession, etc.)  
Enterprises manufacturing goods or providing services and operating under Law No. 8-90 are 
exempt from payment of income tax and customs du ties on the importation and exportation of the 
raw materials, equipment and machinery used to produce these goods. The subsidy is therefore a 
tax concession. 
 6. To whom and how the subsidy is provided (whether to producers, to exporters, or 
others; through what mechanism; if the latter, how determined) 
 The programme exempts natural and legal persons e ligible under the free-zone regime established 
by Law No. 8-90 from the taxes and duties specified in point 5 of this questionnaire. 
 
7. Subsidy per unit or, in cases where this is not possible, the total amount or the 
annual amount budgeted for that subsidy (indicating, if possible, the average 
subsidy per unit in the previous year). Where provision of per-unit subsidy 
information (for the year covered by the notification, for the previous year, or both) is not possible, a full explanation. 
 
Law No. 8-90 does not provide for the auditing, on the basis of either units or operating results, of manufacturing operations conducted within free zones by enterprises operating under the free-zone regime, with a view to estimating the fiscal cost to the Dominican State of attracting 
private investment for the creation of sources of employment. 
 8. Duration of the subsidy and/or any other time-limits attached to it, including date 
of inception/commencement 
 Enterprises eligible for the benefits granted under Law No. 8-90 are entitled to a free-zone 
operating licence, normally valid for up to 20 years in the border region with Haiti and 15 years in 
the rest of the country. Beyond this period, permit holders may apply for a renewal.  G/SCM/N/284/DOM • G/SCM/N/290/DOM 
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9. Information on paragraph 2(a) of  General Council Decision WT/L/691 
 In order to comply fully with paragraphs 1(e) and (f) of General Council Decision WT/L/691, the 
Dominican Republic has implemented the following measures: 
 
(a) All resolutions and/or operating licences issued under the free-zone regime established by 
Law No. 8-90 contain the following paragraph: "As of 2015, the Dominican Republic will 
reserve the right to review and/or withdraw some of the incentives contained in 
Law No. 8-90, pursuant to the Decision of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, contained in document G/SCM/120, concerning the extension provided for in Article 27.4 of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing 
Measures, adopted by the WTO General Council on 27 July 2007". 
 (b) The Dominican Republic has already launched its action plan for the elimination of export 
subsidies. For example, it submitted to Congress a draft law on free zones which provides 
for the complete dismantling of export su bsidies. In addition, by Law No. 139-11 of 
24 June 2011, it amended Article 17 of Law No. 8-90 in respect of export performance 
requirements so that companies under the programme can market their goods and services 
locally without quantitative limits. 
 10. Statistical data permitting an assessmen t of the trade effects of the subsidy. The 
specific nature and scope of such statistics  is left to the judgement of the notifying 
Member. To the extent possible, relevant  and/or determinable, however, it is 
desirable that such information include statistics of production, consumption, 
imports and exports of the subsid ized product(s) or sector(s). 
 
a. For the three most recent years for which statistics are available; 
b. For a previous representative year, which, where possible and meaningful, 
should be the latest year preceding the introduction of the subsidy or preceding 
the last major change in the subsidy.  
  G/SCM/N/284/DOM • G/SCM/N/290/DOM  
- 4 - Evolution of the Main Variables of Free-Export Zones, 1996-2014 
Year Existing 
industrial 
estates Enterprises Jobs Exports 
(US$ 
million) Local 
expenditure 
(US$ million) Average weekly salary 
(RD$) Surface area of 
industrial premises 
in use (sq. ft.) Textile exports 
(US$ million) 
Workers Technical staff 
1996 36 436 164,639 3,107.30 545.00 576.92 1,257.00 13,782,496.0 1,753.5 
1997 40 446 182,174 3,596.40 701.00 634.27 1,441.12 15,603,755.0 2,185.1 
1998 43 496 195,193 4,100.00 826.50 638.32 1,556.90 17,540,407.0 2,348.9 
1999 44 484 189,458 4,331.50 887.30 701.21 1,587.22 16,820,049.0 2,393.1 
2000 46 481 195,262 4,770.60 1,018.60 716.51 1,629.85 21,068,186.0 2,555.4 
2001 51 512 175,078 4,481.60 977.90 775.49 1,662.93 21,738,332.0 2,314.4 
2002 53 520 170,833 4,317.30 886.50 786.56 1,671.53 21,923,764.0 2,226.8 
2003 54 531 173,367 4,406.76 810.84 961.34 2,010.79 22,066,221.0 2,196.4 
2004 58 569 189,853 4,685.24 863.40 1,131.25 2,539.82 24,332,619.0 2,120.6 
2005 57 556 154,781 4,749.65 1,005.43 1,347.09 2,702.67 24,540,452.8 1,904.6 
2006 56 555 148,411 4,678.60 973.70 1,465.19 3,009.97 26,338,045.1 1,734.4 
2007 53 526 128,002 4,525.22 1,010.90 1,480.37 3,127.22 24,609,122.9 1,366.9 
2008 48 525 124,517 4,354.10 954.30 1,652.80 3,533.22 25,299,744.6 1,165.7 
2009 47 553 112,618 3,793.50 959.00 1,819.00 3,689.56 29,037,744.6 933.5 
2010 48 555 121,001 4,217.60 1,123.05 1,829.03 3,841.64 29,268,270.4 964.2 
2011 51 578 125,117 4,884.50 1,163.50 1,967.15 3,892.63 30,067,075.7 1,295.6 
2012 53 584 134,226 4,940.10 1,298.20 2,175.88 4,204.14 30,385,854.6 1,280.6 
2013* 55 602 144,383 4,950.5 1,326.00 2,352.49 4,483.04 33,804,830.4 1,219.2 
2014** 60 614 153,342 5,261.7 1,368.10 2,508.76 4,773.39 34,899,477.3 1,241.9 
% growth 2013-2014 9.1 2.0 6.2 6.3 3. 2 6.6 6.5 3.2 1.9 
Source for exports and fore ign exchange: Central Bank of the Dominican Republic. 
* Corrected export figures. 
** Preliminary export and foreign exchange figures.G/SCM/N/284/DOM • G/SCM/N/290/DOM 
- 5 - 
Contribution of Free Zones to the Gross Do mestic Product (GDP) of the Dominican 
Republic, 1996-2014 (RD$ million) 
Year GDP Free zone s Contribution (%) 
1996 233,833.3 9,380.5 4.0 
1997 274,423.9 11,510.8 4.2 
1998 311,282.8 15,159.6 4.9 
1999 343,745.3 16,728.8 4.9 
2000 388,301.9 19,990.3 5.1 
2001 415,520.9 21,026.4 5.1 
2002 463,624.3 25,249.9 5.4 
2003 617,988.9 46,076.5 7.5 
2004 909,036.8 66,405.1 7.3 
2005 1,020,002.0 49,395.8 4.8 
2006 1,189,801.9 53,296.3 4.5 
2007 1,455,253.3 58,296.4 4.0 
2008 1,656,961.7 57,838.6 3.5 
2009 1,729,468.4 55,845.5 3.2 
2010 1,978,851.9 60,480.5 3.1 
2011 2,218,428.8 72,916.6 3.3 
2012 2,377,503.7 76,318.0 3.2 
2013* 2,558,585.6 81,531.7 3.2 
2014** 2,786,229.7 84,956.0 3.0 
Source: Central Bank of the Dominican Republic. 
* Corrected figures. ** Preliminary figures. 
Reference years: 1995-2006 (1991); 2007-2014 (2007). 
 
 
  
 
012345678Contribution of Free Zones to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the 
Dominican Republic, 1996-2014
 
 
 
   G/SCM/N/284/DOM • G/SCM/N/290/DOM 
- 6 - 
Comparison of Domestic and Free-Zo ne Exports, 1996-2014 (US$ million) 
Year Domestic exports Growth % 
Domestic Free-zone 
exports Growth % 
Free 
zones Total 
exports Free-zone 
exports/total 
exports (%) 
1996 945.5 --- 3,107.3 --- 4,052.8 76.7 
1997 1,017.3 7.6 3,596.4 15.7 4,613.7 78.0 
1998 880.3 -13.5 4,100.0 14.0 4,980.3 82.3 
1999 805.2 -8.5 4,331.5 5.6 5,136.7 84.3 
2000 966.1 20.0 4,770.6 10.1 5,736.7 83.2 
2001 794.7 -17.7 4,481.6 -6.1 5,276.3 84.9 
2002 847.7 6.7 4,317.3 -3.7 5,165.0 83.6 
2003 1,064.0 25.5 4,406.8 2.1 5,470.8 80.6 
2004 1,250.7 17.5 4,685.2 6.3 5,935.9 78.9 
2005 1,395.1 11.5 4,749.7 1.4 6,144.8 77.3 
2006 1,931.4 38.4 4,678.6 -1.5 6,610.0 70.8 
2007 2,635.1 36.4 4,525.2 -3.3 7,160.3 63.2 
2008 2,393.9 -9.2 4,354.1 -3.8 6,748.0 64.5 
2009 1,689.3 -29.4 3,793.5 -12.9 5,482.8 69.2 
2010 2,536.1 50.1 4,217.6 11.2 6,753.7 62.4 
2011 3,727.8 47.0 4,884.5 15.8 8,612.3 56.7 
2012 4,129.0 10.8 4,940.1 1.1 9,069.1 54.5 
2013* 4,473.8 8.4 4,950.5 0.2 9,424.3 52.5 
2014** 4,637.2 3.7 5,261.7 6.3 9,898.9 53.2 
Source: Central Bank of the Dominican Republic. 
* Corrected figures. ** Preliminary figures. 
 
 
 
Domestic 
exports 
47%Free-Zone 
exports
53%Comparison of Domestic and Free-Zone Exports
2014
 
 
  
 G/SCM/N/284/DOM • G/SCM/N/290/DOM 
- 7 - 
Free-Zone Exports by Principal Activities, 2006-2014 (US$ million) 
Activity 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014* % share  
2014 
Medical and 
pharmaceutical  
products 712.9 774.0 855.6  963.0  1,070.7  1,178.5  1,213.3  1,230.6 1,274.2 24.2  
Clothing and textiles 1,734.4 1,366.9 1,165.7  933.5  983.9  1,295.6  1,280.6  1,219.2 1,241.9 23.6  
Electrical goods 695.7 743.3 794.7  565.5  581.6  623.9  638.7  658.2 752.8 14.3  
Tobacco and 
tobacco 
products 366.9 393.6 429.9  403.1  426.6  424.7  506.4  531.7 586.9 11.2  
Footwear 276.1 258.7 234.7  201.0  312.8  389.1  406.5  422.2 449.5 8.5  
Jewellery 625.9 678.4 505.4  435.7  466.2  527.2  450.5  315.5 283.7 5.4  
Other 266.7 310.3 368.1  291.7  375.7  445.5  444.0  573.2 672.7 12.8  
Total 4,678.6 4,525.2 4,354.1  3,793.5  4,217.5  4,884.5  4,940.1  4,950.5 5,261.7 100.0  
Source: Central Bank of the Dominican Republic. 
* Corrected figures. 
 
 
 
Medical and 
pharmaceutical  products
24%
Clothing and
textiles
24%
Electrical goods
14%Tobacco and 
tobacco products
11%Footwear
9%Jewellery
5%Other
13%Free-Zone Exports by Principal Activities
2014
 
 
 
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