Dominican republic Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in dominican republic, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Standards for Trade
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The Dominican Standardization System follows international guidelines, and it is compatible with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Code of Standards.  

The Dominican Republic’s standardization and quality system operates under Law No. 166-12 (2012), which established SIDOCAL (Sistema Dominicano para la Calidad). Under SIDOCAL, several bodies coordinate: CODOCA (Consejo Dominicano para la Calidad), INDOCAL (Instituto Dominicano para la Calidad) for standardization and metrology, ODAC (Organismo Dominicano de Acreditación) for accreditation, and CEDIRET for regulatory technical information.

INDOCAL replaced the former DIGENOR, and now oversees the development, adoption, adaptation, and publication of NORDOM (Normas Dominicanas), which are voluntary technical standards; by contrast, RTD (Reglamentos Técnicos Dominicanos) and RTM (Reglamentos Técnicos de Metrología) are regulatory (mandatory) when invoked. The Dominican Standardization System in place (NORDOM, or Normas Dominicanas in Spanish) consists of 619 mandatory and voluntary standards.

The system is designed to be consistent with international good practices and requirements under the WTO’s Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement, adopting or harmonizing with ISO, COPANT, IEC, Codex, etc.

As of 2025, there are over 867 NORDOM documents available, along with multiple RTD and RTM regulations, reflecting a significant expansion since 2012. The Dominican Standardization System follows international guidelines, and it is compatible with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Code of Standards.

Under the new law that created SIDOCAL the following are the new standards organizations: 

INDOCAL serves as the National Notification Authority under the WTO agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade and the Local Agent for the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).  INDOCAL also has membership in the Pan-American Standards Commission (COPANT).

The National Inquiry Point under the WTO is the General Directorate of International Trade (DICOEX- Dirección de Comercio Exterior) under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. 

CEDIRET (Centro Dominicano de Información sobre Reglamentación Técnicas) is the institution in charge of the compilation and publication of standards in Dominican Republic.

The General Directorate of Drugs, Food and Sanitary Products (DIGEMAPS), a decentralized institution dependent of the Ministry of Health of the Dominican Republic, is the National Contact Point for Codex Alimentarius Commission (international standard-setting body for food standards).

Testing, Inspection and Certification

INDOCAL is the institution authorized to provide product certification in Dominican Republic. The INDOCAL Seal of Compliance (Sello de Calidad INDOCAL, in Spanish) is the certification that INDOCAL provides to those locally manufactured products that meet Dominican standards. Any company interested in obtaining this certification for its product should present documentation indicating that an internationally accredited laboratory (including the two currently accredited local laboratories) has tested and approved the product. In the case of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, processed foods, and dairy products, the products must also receive a certification of approval (“Registro Sanitario,” in Spanish) from the Ministry of Public Health.  Without this “Registro Sanitario”, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, processed foods and dairy products are not allowed to enter Dominican Republic.

For more information on the “Registro Sanitario” please visit the website of the Ministry of Public Health portal and Social Assistance portal

There are two accreditation laboratories in the DR. One is for electrical equipment, which is mainly used by the electricity utilities to test customers’ energy meters suspected of having been altered for fraudulent purposes. There is another laboratory with the required accreditation for performing tests on food products, the Instituto de Innovación en Biotecnologia e Industria (IIBI). However, SIDOCAL provides that documents and assessments prepared by internationally accredited bodies or testing laboratories shall be accepted in Dominican Republic.

Publication of Technical Regulations

In the DR, the most up-to-date regulations are published and available to the general public for a small fee.  The new law that created the SIDOCAL mandates that the development of new standards should follow the TBT guidelines that encourage the adoption of international standards as the Dominican technical requirements whenever possible. 

SIDOCAL provides the creation of a Technical Committee under the supervision of INDOCAL, which will oversee developing and studying any proposed new standard before it is approved by the CODOCA (the Council for Dominican Quality that oversees INDOCAL).  The law also provides for public discussions of any new technical regulations planned to be introduced as a NORDOM.

SIDOCAL also created CEDIRET as the center for the promotion, data base, and publication of quality standards.

Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are required under the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) to notify to the WTO proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures that could affect trade. Notify U.S. (www.nist.gov/notifyus) is a free, web-based e-mail registration service that captures and makes available for review and comment key information on draft regulations and conformity assessment procedures. Users receive customized e-mail alerts when new notifications are added by selected country(ies) and industry sector(s) of interest, and can also request full texts of regulations.  This service and its associated web site are managed and operated by the USA WTO TBT Inquiry Point housed within the National Institute of Standards and Technology, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. 

Contact Information

  • Instituto Dominicano para la Calidad
    (Quality Dominican Institute)
    Calle Olof Palme, Los Prados
    Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
    Contact: Ing.  Nestor Julio Matos Urena General Director
    Phone: (809) 686-2205 ext. 319
    Fax: (809) 686-2235
    E-mail: indocal@indocal.gob.do
    Website: https://www.indocal.gob.do
     
  • U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
    Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS)
    Phone: (809) 368-7741
    E-mail: agsantodomingo@fas.usda.gov
    Website: http://www.fas.usda.gov
    Contact: Chanda Berk, Senior Agricultural Attaché
     
  • U.S. Department of Commerce
    U.S. Commercial Service 
    Phone: (809) 368-7249 
    E-mail: Office.SantoDomingo@trade.gov  
    Website:  https://www.trade.gov/dominican-republic
    Contacts: Bryan Goldfinger, Deputy Senior Commercial Officer
    E-mail: bryan.goldfinger@trade.gov
    Sheila Diaz de Andújar, Senior Commercial Specialist
    E-mail: sheila.diaz@trade.gov

 

Use ePing to review proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures

The ePing SPS&TBT platform (https://epingalert.org/), or “ePing”, provides access to notifications made by Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) under the Agreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), distributed by the WTO from January 16, 1995, to present.  ePing is available to all stakeholders free of charge and is a versatile tool that can be used to: 

  • Follow and review current and past notifications concerning regulatory actions on products, packaging, labeling, food safety and animal and plant health measures in markets of interest,
  • Receive customized e-mail alerts when new notifications are distributed,
  • Find information on trade concerns discussed in the WTO SPS and TBT Committees.
     

Per obligation under the TBT Agreement, each WTO Member operates an Enquiry Point. National TBT Enquiry Points are authorized to accept comments and official communications from other national TBT Enquiry Points, which are NOT part of the WTO or the WTO Secretariat.  All comment submissions from U.S. stakeholders, including businesses, trade associations, U.S domiciled standards development organizations and conformity assessment bodies, consumers, or U.S. government agencies on notifications to the WTO TBT Committee should be sent directly to the USA WTO TBT Enquiry Point.  Refer to the comment guidance at https://www.nist.gov/notifyus/commenting for further information. This guidance is provided to assist U.S. stakeholders in the preparation and submission of comments in response to notifications of proposed foreign technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures.

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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

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