2 weeks ago, we told you how the Belize Government launched a lawsuit against St. Kits and Nevis and Trinidad at the Caribbean Court of Justice. That's after these fellow CARICOM member-countries refused to purchase sugar from the CARICOM market.
According to Agriculture Minister Godwin Hulse, these CARICOM states have both been buying from Guatemala without paying the tariffs required. Tonight, the Sugar Association of the Caribbean is announcing that this lawsuit has their support.
In a press release, the SAC says the members met last week to register their concerns that the CARICOM Single Market and Economy for sugar continues to be undermined. They say that despite the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) agreement last year to tighten compliance with the Common External Tariff and the system that governs it, individual companies continue to overestimate their requirements for imported, extra-regional, CET-free sugar.
The SAC says, quote, "In recent months, exaggerated requests for CET waivers under the safeguard mechanism indicate scant regard has been paid to the political sentiments expressed by COTED. In one recent case, a single manufacturer has sought permission to import around half of their country's national annual demand" End quote.
They close by saying that sugar industries in the Caribbean are investing to ensure that high-quality, food-grade sugar is available for Caribbean products. They are trying to ensure that the regulatory mechanisms designed to support Caribbean business works for sugar, as they do for other products.
