Belize Sugar Industries works to reverse suspension by Fairtrade

Posted: Tuesday, March 21, 2023. 11:52 am CST.

By Aaron Humes: Belize Sugar Industries Ltd. (BSI) has confirmed that it is facing suspension by the Fairtrade organization of its certification to sell sugar following a recent audit.

In a statement, the company says that following an audit in January, it was informed two weeks ago that several non-compliant statutes were found, including a “major non-compliance” described as a “change in classification of BSI in the FLOCERT system, of which we were not aware, and which confers additional obligations relating to our communication with our customers.” The other violations were ascribed to “technical matters that do not affect the flow of Fairtrade eligible sugar to our customers or affect the payment of premium from our customers to eligible Fairtrade associations.”

BSI says it has submitted corrective measures on all of the issues raised and expects that the suspension will soon be lifted.

Both BSI and the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers’ Association (BSCFA) are certified by Fairtrade to produce and sell sugar under certain conditions and are regularly audited to ensure those conditions are being met. The BSCFA’s last audit was in 2021 amid the start of its dispute with BSI/ASR over the lapsed Commercial Agreement.

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