On Monday, Supreme Court Justice Sonya Young rejected an application filed on behalf of businessman Jack Charles who was seeking judicial review of BAHA’s decision to confiscate his cargo of Guyanese rice. As we have reported, a shipment of three containers of prepackaged rice is sitting in Big Creek since arriving in Belize on December […]
Businessman Jack Charles’ attempt to bring in the Guyanese rice for retail started months ago; tonight he is seeking to stop the destruction of three containers of the staple. In the following report, News Five’s Isani Cayetano takes a look back at how the issue of introducing cheaper rice into the local market evolved and […]
In the Supreme Court earlier today, businessman Jack Charles lost his only option to legally examine the rationale behind a decision taken by the Government of Belize to confiscate a shipment of Guyanese rice. The consignment of a hundred and fifty thousand pounds of prepackaged grain arrived via freight at the port in Big Creek […]
While Senior Counsel Eamon Courtenay, who represents the Mennonite community, maintains that Jack Charles acted in open disobedience of the law. As a result, the Customs and Excise Department, according to Courtenay, has indicated that the illegal cargo must leave the country sooner than later. Eamon Courtenay, Attorney, Belize Agro-productive Sector Group “The rice […]
The importation of Guyanese rice was an issue that was in the headlines for the most part of December. The premise on which the shipment of rice was being imported to Belize and introduced to the local market is affordability. Previously, Jack Charles proposed that he could retail a pound of Guyanese rice for as […]
On Christmas Eve, businessman Jack Charles was before the Supreme Court in a case he is bringing against the Government of Belize. The importer is seeking permission for a judicial review to legally examine the basis of a decision by the Belize Agricultural Health Authority to detain a cargo of bulk rice from Guyana. According […]
While the shipment of seventy-five tons of prepackaged grain remains grounded in Big Creek, as of Christmas Day the importer will have to start covering the cost of storage. That quantum, if and until released, will be paid forward; however, Jack Charles is positive that it will be recovered in damages. Jack Charles, Proprietor, […]
Former Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture, Sergio Garcia is presently a technical advisor to Jack Charles. As a regional trade specialist, Garcia is familiar with the provisions of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy Treaty. But he has come under fire from current C.E.O. Jose Alpuche for failure to implement measures that […]
The ongoing logjam between the Belize Agricultural Health Authority, BAHA, and businessman Jack Charles, proprietor of R.C. Imports, over the importation of Guyanese rice will be settled in court. With time running out to the Christmas holidays, this morning, an application for a judicial review of BAHA’s decision to detain the shipment of grain was […]
If granted, a judicial remedy in the form of an order from the superior court will succeed. While Attorney Banner is optimistic that the matter will be heard in the days ahead, the Caribbean Court of Justice has not been considered as the last resort to settle the dispute. Reporter “So it’s an application […]
While a consignment of imported rice from Guyana languishes at the port in Big Creek, the back and forth between businessman Jack Charles and the Government of Belize continues. On Monday, C.E.O. in the Ministry of Agriculture Jose Alpuche, accompanied by Foreign Trade Directorate, Doctor Leroy Almendarez, appeared on Open Your Eyes to discuss the […]
At news time tonight, there is no movement on the three containers of Guyanese rice at the Big Creek Port in the south and likely there will not be any offloading. That was the message from government officials today. On Wednesday night, RC Imports Jack Charles brought in the rice despite objections from local rice […]
With three more days before the Christmas, the containers with three million pounds of rice will not be discharged. Jose Alpuche, the C.E.O. in the Ministry of Agriculture maintains that the importation was initiated without a phytosanitary license obtained by the importer. That’s one of the grounds for which the containers of rice are being […]
The stalemate over the importation of rice from Guyana continues to play out and tonight importer Jack Charles is no closer to resolution. Three containers of Guyanese rice arrived on Wednesday night at the Big Creek Port where they continue to sit tonight. The Belize Agricultural and Health Authority did not allow the rice cargo […]
C.E.O. Alpuche notes that the fairly low prices of the rice from Guyana are because subsidies to the industry there and likely because there may be a surplus since Guyana has lost its market in Venezuela. As to the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, Alpuche’s position is that the treaty prevents the importation into Belize. […]
The deadlock between importer Jack Charles and the Belize Agro-productive Sector Group, as well as the Government of Belize, has resulted in what is being called a technical barrier to trade. BAHA, according to regional trade expert Sergio Garcia, is being used as the vehicle to thwart that process. While C.E.O. Alpuche says the shipment […]
While the issue, at its core, involves regulations governing the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, provisions are made in the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas for the use of appropriate mechanisms to protect industries in Lesser Developed Countries such as Belize. This is in line with distinctions that recognize the difference in the stage of economic […]
Even as there is no resolution to the three containers of rice at the Big Creek Port, according to Jack Charles, a total of seven more containers are expected into the country within the next two weeks. Importation and cheap retail, he says, will significantly reduce the contraband rice coming in from Mexico. Jack […]
A shipment of milled rice from Guyana arrived at the Big Creek Port in southern Belize overnight where it remains at present. At the port, all was quiet and calm throughout the day. Shortly before two o’clock, businessman Jack Charles, accompanied by former C.E.O. in the Ministry of Agriculture, Sergio Garcia, made their way to […]
The proposed importation of rice from a CARICOM country by businessman Jack Charles of Xtra House remains unresolved tonight, even though a shipment of prepackaged Guyanese rice to be retailed on the local market is expected to arrive in Big Creek by barge on Thursday. But along with those three containers of imported grain come […]
With less than twenty-four hours before the shipment of rice arrives, the showdown between producers and importer is heating up. Earlier today, the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry issued a release advocating for proper procedures to be put in place for the importation of rice. The Chamber notes that all importations are administered by […]
If you were thinking of getting a small turkey this Christmas, you may want to try a chicken instead. That’s because currently there are none to be had in the country from major distributors Quality Poultry Products and Caribbean Chicken. The status right now is that because the Avian flu severely limited the production of […]
For days, we have been reporting on the attempts by businessman Jack Charles of Xtra House and RC Imports to import rice from Guyana into the local market. The rice, he says, is to be sold at a price lower than it is currently retailing. Sounds good for consumers, especially at this time of the […]
While consumers and industry stakeholders anxiously await the outcome of an ongoing scenario involving the proposed importation of Guyanese rice, the Government of Belize earlier today announced a decrease in the cost per pound of Grade C rice. Loose rice, as it is otherwise known, is seventy percent whole grain and thirty percent broken, in […]
According to Stanley Rempel, C.E.O. of Circle R Products, the decrease in the cost of Grade C rice is the result of lengthy discussions with government on the issue. Grade C rice, says the producer, is widely consumed by Belizeans. Isani Cayetano “There is a sense of timeliness with regards to a government release […]
