Email

Print

Tomorrow morning all eyes turn to the Port in Big Creek where a shipment of three containers, containing 75 tonnes of Premium Rice from Guyana is expected to arrive. It's the property of merchant Jack Charles who is determined to get the rice to market so he can offer consumers "Grade A" rice at 69 cents a pound, while the government-controlled price for "Grade C" is 90 cents per pound. So will the government allow him to introduce the imported rice to the market? Today, speaking to us from El Salvador, the CEO in the Ministry of Agriculture said Charles hasn't applied for the necessary BAHA Permit:

Jules Vasquez

"Rice is scheduled to arrive at Big Creek port from Santo Thomas tomorrow. What is the plan for the government of Belize; will the rice be allowed into the country?"

Jose Alpuche - CEO, Ministry of Agriculture

"Prior to importation of plant and animal material, importation permit should be requested from BAHA. The last time I checked, no permit request had been made to BAHA, this is yesterday. If the rice lands, BAHA has laws by which that guides them and they will apply the law."

Jules Vasquez

"Okay, now all this is heading for a sort of showdown. We know Mr. Charles has been advertising that the rice will be 21 cents cheaper than the new control price and certain charitable organisations will get it for even less than that. Explain to me, is this adding pressure unto the Ministry of Agriculture?"

Jose Alpuche - CEO, Ministry of Agriculture

"Let me say that I am not playing any marketing game with any importer. We have an obligation to try as much as possible to protect domestic production and we have consideration beyond importation of such a basic food commodity. We have to try and ensure that there is domestic production meet our food security needs. However we do call for the application of the rule of law and we will apply that and we have to call on the importer to respect the rules as it relates to BAHA's regulation, respect the law and we will also respect the law. And we will do what is required under the law to protect our domestic productions."

Charles today told us that in fact he applied for the permit in July through his company Xtra House, and sent us a copy of the receipt to prove that he did. He said government is trying to introduce administrative trade barrier tricks to block trade from another CARICOM Country.

But, while Charles may have his BAHA Receipt – the Chamber of Commerce still scolded him today, saying, quote, "all required permits are to be applied for and issued in advance of importation, not when the product is sitting at the border. (Doing this) places unseemly pressure on the government to approve the cargo without following the requisite food safety procedures…"

It continues, quote, "In the case of the rice scheduled to arrive in Belize, consideration must be given to whether it is of the required standard and quality to meet or exceed that which is available locally, and what effect, if any, the importation will have on local producers and the rice industry in Belize. This should have been done prior to importation. The matter is more than just about the price of rice. Rather, if the importer is proposing to displace the livelihood of at least twenty percent of our Belizean rice farmers, there must be a commitment to following the requisite procedures in the proper order so as to safeguard the safety of the consumer in the long term, and to prove that the quality and standards justify the social and economic loss to Belize." End quote.

Again, Charles says he did apply to BAHA with enough advance notice, and points out that even if he doesn't have the requisite approval, BAHA Regulations provide that, quote,

"Where an importer…fails to produce an import permit for such regulated commodity or product…such as Sanitary Certificate, Phytosanitary Certificate and/or Certificate of Origin he shall be liable to an administrative penalty of two hundred dollars (BZ$200.00) per consignment in addition to an inspection fee of one hundred dollars (BZ$100.00)."

So, with this, Charles argues that even if his rice doesn't have BAHA approval, he should be able to bring it in by just paying a fine. Of course, we're not the lawyers here, but we're pretty sure it's not that simple, and the case of the Guyanese rice may go all the way to court.