Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association at loggerheads with Prime Minister John Briceño for  ‘outright capitulation to BSI’ after court rules against Sugar Import/Export Regulations

Prime Minister John Briceño says he’s not wasting time responding to the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association

By Rubén Morales Iglesias: After a high court judgement ruled on February 29, 2024, that the May 2023 Sugar Import/Export Regulations were unconstitutional, Prime Minister John Briceño said the Government would appeal if there is ground but added it didn’t appear so. Other than that, he said he would not waste time responding to the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association who are unhappy with the Prime Minister’s reaction to the court’s ruling.

“I will not waste my time in answering the BSCFA,” Prime Minister John Briceño said late last week.

“I think I’m doing what is in the best interest of the industry and the interest of Belize. We have three other associations that are working with the sugar mill. They are not the only one. So, let’s start off with that. I have said to them that there has to be proper consultations. The  way the Commission of Inquiry, the way it was set up, it was a terms of reference for the BSCFA.”

The Prime Minister said that on Monday he was meeting with the Minister of Agriculture Jose Abelardo Mai to finalize the terms and decide how to proceed.

“But if we were to proceed the way they want us to proceed, we’ll be wasting our time because we’ll be taken to court and the court is going to rule against us,” Prime Minister Briceño said.

“We are not going to appeal just because they ask us to appeal. We have to appeal if there is a case and it seems that there is not a case to appeal. I’m not going to waste the people’s money.

“As long as I know in my conscience that what I’m doing is the correct thing, I don’t care what anybody says. It’s important for us to work. The farmers of this country in the North know the work that we’re doing.”

The Prime Minister said the several thousands of farmers in Orange Walk and Corozal  gave them overwhelming support during the recent municipal elections because they see the work the Government is doing.

Prime Minister John Briceño 

The BSCFA is unhappy with the court’s ruling that the Sugar Import/Export Regulations were unconstitutional.

On February 29, 2024, High Court Judge Rajiv Gooretilleke ruled on a claim filed by Belize Sugar Industries/ASR and the Corozal Sugar Cane Producers Associations (CSCPA) against the Attorney General of Belize, the Minister of Agriculture, the Sugar Industry Control Board, and the Controller of Supplies. The claimants asked the court to declare nine regulations unconstitutional. They were successful in five which Judge Gooretilleke ruled null and void.

Among other requirements, the regulations required BSI/ASR to disclose their contracts to the Sugar Industry Control Board every time they applied for a shipping permit.

Prime Minister Briceño said the Government would amend  the law.

“The admission by the Prime Minister that he is not surprised with the ruling and that the Government would make the necessary amends is unbelievable,” the BSCFA said in a two-page press release in which they expressed their disagreement with the ruling and the Government’s reaction.

“His outright capitulation to BSI continues to leave the small cane farmers at the mercy of the financial power and influence of the multinationals, BSI and TLS (Tate & Lyle Sugars).

‘Equally appalling are the statements of the Prime Minister regarding the Commission of Inquiry (COI). The Prime Minister states that he heads the COI and he is the one who has responsibility for the COI and that it is his responsibility to ensure that there are proper consultations by everyone. Yet he unfairly blames Hon. Jose Mai, Minister of Agriculture, for not properly consulting all stakeholders on the COI. The Prime Minister conveniently disregards the fact that the record shows that both BSI and all associations were invited to be a part of the consultation process, but only two associations, Northern Sugar Cane Growers Association (NSCGA) and BSCFA participated while both BSI and two other associations, Progressive Sugar Cane Producers Association (PSCPA) and Corozal Sugar Cane Producers Association (CSCPA), refused to participate.”

The BSCFA press release compared Prime Minister John Briceno with Mexican dictator Porfirio Diaz who ruled the neighbouring country from 1876 to 1911 in a period known as the Porfiriato.

“Will history remember Honourable John Briceno…as the “Porfirio Diaz” of Belize, who abandoned the small farmers and workers in favour of the oppressive multinational companies and big business many of whom are modern day colonizers of Belize?”

The BSCFA said they will not stand by the wayside doing nothing.

“The BSCFA and its members will not allow themselves to be lulled into sleep and inaction by false hope and empty promises of politicians and their educated millions of big business and multinational companies,” the BSFCA press release said.

“This judgment may be a temporary setback, that merits to be appealed. Nevertheless, the BSCFA and its members remain steadfast and united in its righteous cause and struggle for a fair and just commercial agreement and the payment of Fairtrade Premiums. The BSCFA and its members are prepared to endure whatever sacrifices necessary toward this end. The BSCFA calls on the Prime Minister to “STAY PAN TRACK” and to appeal the judgment on the regulations and to establish the Commission of Inquiry forthwith or shall BSCFA have to remind him where is ‘THE TRACK”.

The BSCFA also said it was appalled by statements by BSI’s Senior Counsel Godfrey Smith, who it said, portrayed the BSI as a target and victim of the regulations.

“In reality, these regulations were found to be necessary as a result of decades of evasiveness by BSI towards cane farmers and mistrust of BSI by cane farmers in their commercial relations,” the BSCFA press release said.

“Over the years, the cane farmers have been more the targets and victims of the financial power and influence of BSI. Godfrey Smith’s assertions that the regulations were a “disguise to dig into the guts of BSI’s private commercial affairs and to force BSI to do what is impossible for BSI to do” are utterly misleading. It is not a matter of what BSI is being purportedly forced to do, but more a matter of what BSI is willing to do, and has demonstrated this unwillingness over and over again. Perhaps one may also consider as facetious the statement that the regulations are “a clear naked attempt by the Sugar Industry Control Board and the Ministry of Agriculture to strong arm BSI”, when over the years it is the BSCFA and cane farmers who have been experiencing the strong arm of BSI, particularly with regard to the negotiation of a fair and just commercial agreement with BSI for the sale of sugar cane and its aloofness regarding the payment of Fairtrade Premiums for the sale of Fairtrade sugar by TLS.”

The BSCFA said the regulations are a significant part of the process of negotiating fair commercial trade agreements between cane farmer associations and BSI.

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