Delays in resolving honey issue ‘not desirable’ but other resolution options exist- CARICOM official
Director of External Trade at CARICOM’s Secretariat’s Directorate of the Caribbean Single Market and Trade, Dr. Chantal Ononaiwu (Photo: News Room/ June 23, 2023)
And the CSME falls under CARICOM’s central treaty, the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. It is meant to promote the free movement of people, goods and services within the region.
Trinidad’s 1935 Beekeeping and Bee Products Act, which blocks the transshipment of honey originating outside the Windward and Leeward Islands, has been seen as a law which breaches the CSME.
Grenada took the honey issue to COTED in 2013 and the Council decided that Trinidad’s denial of market access was in violation of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. Then, Trinidad was directed to lift the prohibition on the import and transshipment of honey, based on reports.
Still, the problem exists.
In fact, at Monday’s business breakfast and at another business breakfast held on Saturday, private sector players continued to lament how much of a bugbear Trinidad’s law is.
Ramesh Dookhoo of the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) said that the decades-old matter is not a complex one. He said it is simply a matter of amending Trinidadian laws.
Dr. Ononaiwu acknowledged the concerns raised but on Monday, told the private sector players gathered that there are other avenues to address the matter.
Taking the matter to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), for example, is an option that exists. She also noted that the Good Offices process with the CARICOM Secretary General, arbitration and other engagements can all be used to resolve the honey issue and other matters.
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