Sugar Confiscated, Fine Coming

Tracey Panton

News Five understands that the supplier of the Santander sugar is DV Distributors, which may be connected to the Vega Empire. Santander’s move to proceed with production and the retail of plantation white sugar appears to be deliberate, since government reiterated its position again, via a stronger letter sent to the company on May eighteenth.  Trade Minister Panton says punitive measures are being considered in light of what has happened.

Tracey Panton, Minister of State, Trade & Investment

“That process should not take longer than two weeks we’re hoping, if people are available.  But outside of that, Santander understands very clearly that they acted outside of their formal agreement with the Government of Belize.  They acted in contravention of their EPZ status, so we can fine them.  We’re in the process of confiscating the sugar that is on the market.  Worst case scenario, we can move to have their license, EPZ certification, revoked.  But we’re not there yet.  They understand they are not to do it.  Even after our first letter on the eleventh, there was still product on the market, so we wrote them again on the eighteenth [of May], a stronger letter to make it emphatically clear that they were in contravention of their formal agreement with the Government of Belize and that we would not, certainly could not support having their sugar on the local market.”