Efforts are underway to remove barriers to trade that currently restrict Guyana’s honey from being exported to Trinidad and Tobago, with the twin-island republic currently looking at new legislation.
For years, the private sector in Guyana has been bemoaning the challenges faced when it comes to exporting certain products, such as honey, to its sister Caribbean country. More so, it has continuously lamented the lack of action by the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM’s) Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on the issue.
However, during a seminar that was hosted today for a visiting trade mission from Trinidad and Tobago, that country’s High Commissioner to Guyana Conrad Enil said the issue is now being addressed frontally by the Rowley administration.
“The legislation to deal with the honey issue is now before the parliament so that issue should be dealt with before the end of this year,” he revealed.
The Trinidadian diplomat made this remark in response to comments made by Guyana’s Foreign Secretary, Robert Persaud on the issue.
“It has been an issue that we’ve been addressing and we’ve made some progress but there are still some outstanding issues in terms of accessing the array of the Trinidad and Tobago market… Take for instance, we’ve had the issue since 2013 of honey being exported [to Trinidad from Guyana]. We’ve had outstanding issues of pharmaceutical where things are a bit vague and you’re not clear as to how it is that our pharmaceutical procurers can access Trinidad and Tobago markets,” Persaud outlined.
Several months ago, President Dr Irfaan Ali had committed to pushing to have the matter resolved.
“The honey issue is one that we have raised at Caricom. And to be fair, Prime Minister Rowley had said that they are going to address the honey issue. It’s an outdated law…,” President Ali had remarked in June.
The law in question is Trinidad’s Food and Drug Act of 1960 and Beekeeping and Bee Products Act of 1935.
