Describes the country's standards landscape, identifies the national standards and accreditation bodies, and lists the main national testing organization(s) and conformity assessment bodies.

Overview

The Dominican Standardization System follows international guidelines and it is compatible with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Code of Standards. 

INDOCAL (Instituto Dominicano para la Calidad-Quality Dominican Institute) is the Dominican governmental body overseeing the formulation, and implementation of quality norms in the Dominican Republic.  INDOCAL was created to replace the former DIGENOR. In June 2012 the Dominican standards system experienced a significant change with the promulgation of a new Law that created the SIDOCAL (Sistema Dominicano para la Calidad); which oversees quality control development, the development of norms/standards, metrology, monitoring, certification, and accreditation.  Where formerly there was only one institution overseeing standards issues, the new law created several institutions: CODOCA (Consejo Dominicano para la Calidad); INDOCAL (Instituto Dominicano para la Calidad); CEDIRET (Centro Dominicano de Información sobre Reglamentación Técnica); and ODAC (Organismo Dominicano para la Acreditación), all of them working together under SIDOCAL and with a wider range of functions and responsibilities. CODOCA will fall under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

However, the new law did not affect the Dominican Standardization System in place (NORDOM, or Normas Dominicanas in Spanish); which consists of 619 mandatory and voluntary standards.

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 the Dominican Republic.

  • The Ministry of Agriculture 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 the 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 local laboratories currently accredited) 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 the Dominican Republic.


For more information on the “Registro Sanitario” please visit the website of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance: https://www.msp.gob.do

There are two accreditation laboratories in the Dominican Republic. 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 the Dominican Republic.

Publication of technical regulations

In the Dominican Republic, 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. Manuel Guerrero, 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: https://www.fas.usda.gov
Contact: Elizabeth Autry, Senior Agricultural Attaché

U.S. Department of Commerce
U.S. Commercial Service
Phone: (809) 368-7249
E-mail: Office.Santodomingo@trade.gov
Website: https://export.gov/caribbean/
Contacts: Bryan Larson, Senior Commercial Officer
E-mail: Bryan.larson@trade.gov
Sheila Diaz de Andújar, Senior Commercial Specialist
E-mail: sheila.diaz@trade.gov

Prepared by our U.S. Embassies abroad. With its network of 108 offices across the United States and in more than 75 countries, the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce utilizes its global presence and international marketing expertise to help U.S. companies sell their products and services worldwide. Locate the U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist in the U.S. nearest you by visiting http://export.gov/usoffices.