More countries accepting Guyanese products but honey challenge remains

As Guyana leads the regional plan of slashing a hefty food import by 25 per cent by 2025, the country’s Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha says more countries within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are accepting agricultural products from Guyana.

He, however, noted that the long standing honey challenge with Trinidad and Tobago remains a bugbear that Guyana hopes to resolve soon.

“As it stands now, most of the Caribbean countries that were not taking our products are now taking it.

“Almost all the non-tariff barriers now we are working on to reduce it,” Mustapha told the News Room recently.

The removal of non-tariff barriers has been a focus of Guyana-led efforts to decrease costly imports by increasing regional food production and trade.

Non-tariff barriers include quotas, embargoes, sanctions and levies that affect some exports to CARICOM markets. Last year, Guyana’s President Dr. Irfaan Ali told the News Room that Guyana was keen on removing many of the barriers imposed on its products as it advances the agri-agenda.

Mustapha said more Guyanese products are being accepted but the government is still engaging Trinidadian authorities on resolving the impediments to the trade of honey.

“We have been working with them to remove all the non-tariff barriers,” Mustapha said.

He added that President Ali and Trinidadian Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Rowley have engaged each on the matter through an agriculture working group established under a newer Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two countries.

Trinidad and Tobago’s honey, bees and bee products are guided by the island’s age-old Food and Drug Act of 1960 and Beekeeping and Bee products Act of 1935.

But it has been found that these laws, and the impediments to free trade that they impose, are in contravention to CARICOM’s central treaty: the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. Local honey producers, in recent weeks, have once again called on local authorities to remedy this issue.

To this end, the Agriculture Minister assured Guyanese that the government is not neglecting the issue.

“…We are now discussing that issue and I am hoping that we can have a resolution soon,” he said.