Belize delegation pleased with visit to Guyana

BELMOPAN, Belize, Jan 18, CMC – Belize has held talks with Guyana regarding the importation of rice from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture, Gaspar Vega, who led a two-member delegation to Georgetown, said that Guyana “has always been a country with whom we’ve had very good bilateral agreements”.

The visit to Guyana last week came amidst problems relating to the importation of three containers of rice from Guyana by a Belize businessman.

Earlier this month the Belize Supreme Court declined to grant leave to Jack Charles to file for judicial review of a decision by Belize Agricultural Health Authorities (BAHA) not to allow him to import the three containers rice.

The Court had ruled that Charles had proceeded without obtaining an import permit in violation of the law. The Court said it was being asked to intervene on the side of a lawbreaker which it would not do and Charles was also been ordered by the Customs Department to send the rice back or risk it being destroyed.

Vega told reporters on his return here that he held talks with his counterpart in Guyana, Nigel Holder, as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge.

“Our visit to Guyana was one that we thought was appropriate,” Vega said, adding that “we thought that due to the present circumstances with the rice, it was just proper for us to go and visit with my colleague, Minister of Agriculture Honorable Holder.

“We also met with the chief executive officer and Chairman of the Guyana Rice Development Board with whom we discussed the present situation of the rice, where they already knew of the breach of or the breaking of the law by the importer.

“…they were very, very happy that we had granted the importer the opportunity to re-export and during our meetings everyone, like I said, we have been very lucky that Guyana’s government, previous and present, has been very supportive.

“We all agreed that Belize needs to ensure food security for its country and in this case, we needed to assure the viability of our rice industry.  We discussed that in detail and we even discussed that we must look for a way forward in securing the food security and even taking it to CARICOM,” Vega added.

He said the delegation also met with CARICOM Secretary General Irwin La Rocque who “was aware of what was occurring in Belize”.

Vega described the talks in Guyana as “intensive” adding “we even discussed the way forward with not only rice or even probably setting up a joint team to discuss how we can enhance each other’s economy”.