Belize Works Out Kinks in CARICOM Trade; Jamaican Patties to be Imported

Tracy Panton

Jamaican patties are known for their trademark yellow, flaky crust and can be found at Big Bite Restaurant and some gas stations. But for quite some time, the Jamaican producers had been experiencing challenges with exporting their meat and chicken patties to Belize. This was even after a meeting of CARICOM’s Council for Trade and Development where approval was given for the export of Jamaican patties to all CARICOM member states. Today, Minister Panton also gave a comment on that impasse between Belize and Jamaica.

Tracy Panton, Minister of State, Economic Development, Investment, Trade & Commerce

“We were able, both at the agriculture COTED which was held in Cayman a few weeks before and COTED last week, be able to resolve some of those outstanding issues. Belize reserves the right to ensure that our health and safety standards are maintained and that the proper risk assessment is done for any product before entering the Belizean market. We have agreed to continue our bilateral negotiations with Jamaica because there are huge opportunities for trade between Belize and Jamaica. As you know, CARICOM is in fact the only trading partner in where Belize has a trading surplus and so we want to continue to advance those opportunities for Belize and also try to source more products out of the region.”