Mexican flour can now be found on Belizean store shelves, and the news is that it was legally imported. Customs has confirmed that 1200 sacks of Bola Roja 12 kilo flour were imported through Corozal on the 14th of March and paid the required rate of duty, which is 100%.
Previously only the locally brands produced by ADM Belize Mills could be sold in Belize, but last year the regulations were changed to allow imported flour into the market - but with high duty charges. Those high duty charges make the Bola Roja more expensive when compared to the local flour. One hundred pounds of local flour costs 81 dollars, while 100 pounds of Bola Roja would work out to about 108 dollars.
But, many consumers prefer the popular Mexican brand, and many are used to is because Bola Roja is very widely contrabanded into Belize and is frequently found in households into the north. The only problem with this legal importation is that it's not labeled for the Belize market, so there's no way of knowing if what you're buying is legally imported or contraband, and whether the importers actually paid that 100% duty, or if he's just creaming that as his profit.
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