Santander C.E.O. Explains Why Company Is Prohibited from Selling Sugar Locally

Jose Rodriguez

In 2018, Santander Sugar was busted for selling sugar in the local market after it was granted an Export Processing Zone to produce sugar for export only. The violation resulted in a decision by the government to have the Customs Department confiscate a significant amount of plantation white sugar that the company had introduced into the domestic market. Santander is prohibited from selling sugar locally without the approval of the government. Today, C.E.O. Jose Rodriguez was asked about it. 

Jose Rodriguez, C.E.O., Santander Sugar Group

“It was a socio-political issue, the local market. Normally, there are some companies that are in the same regime that we are, what is EPC is now EPA that can’t sell their products to the local market because there is a factory that produce some product and they are enabled to sell to any, or fifteen percent of the product in the local market. In the case of sugar there are a lot of sociopolitical issues involved in that so we were not able to access the local market s we think should be a possibility but you know how things are.”