CARICOM treaty to change price of alcohol
If you have been waiting to indulge in CARICOM spirits, well there is good news because beer from the region will soon be available locally at competitive prices. In the case of rum, a wide variety will now be entering the Belize market. This is all in line with the Treaty of Chaguaramas that Belize will now be compliant with. Jose Sanchez has a report.
Jose Sanchez, Reporting
P.M. Barrow introduced a bill in the House on Friday that would change the tax structure for imported alcohol and soft drinks. As a member of CARICOM and a signatory to the Treaty of Chaguaramas, Belize is obligated to implement those changes, according to Barrow.
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“In the case of the beer and the soft drinks we impose a revenue replacement duty on the imports from CARICOM that makes those imports or at least seeks to make those imports far more expensive visa vie Belikin beer and stout, the locally bottled coca cola. So not to put too fine a point of it, we have been trying to prevent market penetration by Busta, Bigga and Red Stripe and Heineken. In the case of Red Stripe, that comes from Jamaica and within the CARICOM classification, Jamaica is an M.D.C., More Developed Country and Belize is an L.D.C. (Less Developed Country). The treaty allows us to kind of put on a countervailing duty in order to give the local beer industry to a little more breathing space.”
But the breathing space achieved with Red Stripe cannot be achieved with Heineken, which is imported from St. Lucia, an L.D.C., Less Developed Country like Belize. Heineken imports are expected to increase and purchase prices are expected to closely mirror Belikin.
Kay Menzies, Man. Dir., Karl H. Menzies, Importer of Heineken
“It will level the playing field of CARICOM products including Heineken, which is brewed in St. Lucia. Its something that is long overdue we look forward to the moment when it happens. The consumer will be the beneficiary ultimately.”
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“In the case of rum there is good news. We discovered in fact the RRD that the imported rum was paying, was less than the local excise tax on Mr. Travellers and Cuello. So we’re able to get a little of our own there, what we’re able to do while we have to take off the R.R.D., we will put a corresponding tax on the rum imports that is equal to the excise duty that the local producers of rum will pay. So actually, the rum from CARICOM will go up.”
Traveller’s Liquors Chairman, Romel Perdomo, says there are disadvantages such as being unable to get duty free bottles as competitors do in the Caribbean but he says that the bill is good for his business.
Romel Perdomo, Chairman, Traveller’s Liquors Ltd.
“It truly benefits us because they had the advantage over the last five years, especially when it comes to brandy, gin and vodka from CARICOM. They need to understand that brandy, gin and vodka are rum base and we make rum here and we pay ninety dollars a gallon and we blend it into brandy, gin and vodka and they do the same and they do the same in the CARICOM countries. We are cleaning up our waste at the distillery. Hopefully, the people are getting benefits when it comes to the taxes. We need to make sure that they are cleaning up their environment also because presently we are spending three point eight million to do some waste treatment.”
The future for the local industry lies in the ability to become competitive in exports, a leap Traveller’s has begun to make. Reporting for News Five, Jose Sanchez.
Belize Breweries the bottlers of Belikin Beer, declined to comment at this time.
