But, what the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association did quickly address today was an article from the online news site, Breaking Belize News.
Yesterday, BBN published an article which suggested that the BSCFA was in danger of losing the funds which farmers get as a premium payment from Fairtrade International. Getting Fairtrade-certified is a rigorous process, and so, it quickly caught the eye of the membership of the BSCFA when this article was published.
It says, quote, "BSCFA was told by Fairtrade to reach an agreement with BSI or risk desertification" End quote.
Well, this afternoon, the BSCFA fired back at BBN to say that they got the story very wrong.
Their press release from this afternoon says, quote, "We confirm that the BSCFA has received a letter from Tate & Lyle Sugars and not from Fairtrade, which would not issue such a letter to its members.
Secondly, the news item erroneously reports that "Fairtrade is prepared to sign the draft letter of enhanced agreement which sets out a minimum volume to be bought from BSI and which requires all signatories to remain certified by Fairtrade". We confirm that BSCFA signs this letter with Tate & Lyle Sugars and not with Fairtrade..." End quote.
The association ends its statement with one final parting shot saying, quote, "We deplore the fact that this news media did not consult with the BSCFA before publicizing its news item. This has only caused confusion and concern among our members and the cane farming community." End quote.
