After over a year of intense negotiations between USDA and DIGEGA, on August 23, 2023, both countries agreed on new requirements for access of US live birds, hatching eggs, products and poultry by-products to the Dominican Republic. The negotiations came about after the Dominican Republic issued restrictions on US poultry due to the outbreak of HPAI that started in 2022, according to a recent US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report.

The major change in the agreed requirements allows US counties free of HPAI to export their poultry products to the DR, removing a barrier that had determined export eligibility on a state-by-state basis. Furthermore, the countries agreed:

• To limit any restrictions due to detections of HPAI to poultry as defined by the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH formally known as OIE);
• To submit a health certificate that will specify the facility number and the name of the county of origin of the product. The certificate will also certify that the poultry and poultry products were derived from birds raised, slaughtered, processed, and stored in a county free from HPAI infection in poultry and not located wholly or in part within a radius of 10 km from the affected areas. Additionally, the certificate will certify that the birds were born 14 days before the initiation of the outbreak and did not show signs of disease during pre- and postmortem inspection;
• That USDA’s Animal Plant Health and Inspection Services (APHIS) will initiate removal of HPAI restrictions, 28 days after completion of virus elimination, in accordance with recommendations of WOAH articles 10.4, 10.4.6, and 10.4.266 to 10.4.30.

Expected Impact of the New Requirements

As a result of the restrictions announced by DIGEGA on March 12, 2022, Dominican importers struggled to source poultry and poultry products from US states free from HPAI. Brazil stepped into this void and, coupled with other DR policy measures, was able to strongly position themselves in the local poultry market. In fact, Brazil has become the largest supplier of poultry meat to the Dominican Republic, accounting for 53% (US$38.0 million) of total reported exports to the Dominican Republic as of June 2023. The United States supplied 46% (US$33.3 million) during the same time period.

Post estimates that the new agreed requirements for US poultry will result in a reversal of that trend, as the United States should be able to recover a significant share of total exports of poultry to the Dominican Republic in the short term. This will represent additional exports of millions of dollars for US poultry producers in 2023 and beyond.