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Duty-Free - Haiti Observer Blog
Duty-Free, Haiti Observer Blog. Read the following articles about Duty-Free
The HOPE Act and Its Effect on the Haitian Economy
The Haitian HOPE (Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement) Act of 2006 (also known as HOPE I) was enforced on 6th Dec 2006. As a part of this Act, exports of certain Haiti-made apparels to U.S. were made tariff-free. The intention was to attract investment in apparel industry with the underlying plan being development and economic growth. The condition was that only those apparels will be made duty free whose raw materials were imported by Haiti from any country provided, a part of the sourced material must come from a country that is a part of U.S. Unilateral Preferential Trade Arrangement. Apart from this, Haiti was also required to establish:
Creation of industrial free zones, Tabarre, Varreux in Cite Soleil
Minister of Industry and Commerce, Wilson Laleau, met with President of the National Council of Free Zones (CNZF), Rode Préval on Monday to join forces with the Société Immobilière de Développement SA (SIDSA). The agreement is for the initiation of a new industrial free zone in Tabarre. Préval states that this will directly create as many as 3,500 new jobs and up to 15,000 indirect ones.
The projected Tabarre free zone will take up an estimated 3 carreaux of land and will house two buildings of over 10,000 square meters each. These modernly constructed industrial buildings were made with promoting Haiti in mind. The facilities are described as 'attractive and should entice overseas investors. They are slated to have circulation areas that allow ease in transport of the 56 40ft containers they are slated to boast.
Haiti's garment and apparel industry, U.S. trade preference
Haiti is known for several industries in the global market, especially in terms of agriculture and tourism. But only a few know of the country's garment and apparel industry which is slowly growing with the help of the United States government.
The U.S. government has recently launched a U.S. trade preference with Haiti in order to promote the country's apparel industry. Haiti was able to export about 18 million dollars' worth of apparel to the United States on a duty-free provision for most of 2012, a highly significant increase as compared to previous trades years back. According to the U.S. Government's Accountability Office in a recent report, local apparel firms in Haiti have been receiving more credits which can be received through utilizing U.S.-made fabric and other related materials in exchange with the United States being granted with duty-free trade preferences.
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