Belize to benefit from agreement on sugar sales in CARICOM

Published by BBNTEAM at October 14, 2021

Tags

Posted: Thursday, October 14, 2021. 12:17 pm CST.

By Aaron Humes: A monitoring mechanism on sugar (MMS) will be created by the Caribbean Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), to ensure that there is greater transparency and information flows to inform regional producers and users of the supply and demand of all sugars.

It follows a lengthy fight by Belize to gain a foothold in CARICOM against cheaper regional rivals such as Guatemala.

At the 97th Special Meeting of the on October 12, 2021, via videoconference, it was agreed to approve the terms of reference for the MMS. Also, Member States agreed that the first meeting of the MMS will be held before the end of 2021 or as soon thereafter as is reasonably practicable.

Once established and implemented, the MMS will put in place arrangements to ensure that, where extra-regional imports of refined sugar are being contemplated, regional producers are given the opportunity to prove that they are able to supply the quantities and specifications required as indicated through an application to the COTED.

Only where regional suppliers are unable to supply will Member States be authorized to exempt the payment of the common external tariff on imports of sugar from non-CARICOM sources.

Belize was represented by Ramon Cervantes, Minister of State of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Immigration; Lawrence Sylvester, Belize’s Ambassador to CARICOM; senior officials from the Directorate General for Foreign Trade, the Belize Customs & Excise Department, and representatives from the sugar industry.

Advertise with the mоѕt vіѕіtеd nеwѕ ѕіtе іn Belize ~ We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages. Your content is delivered instantly to thousands of users in Belize and abroad! Contact us at mаrkеtіng@brеаkіngbеlіzеnеwѕ.соm or call us at 501-612-0315.