B.M.D.C. Says No Import Permits for Carrots

Earlier this week, the United Democratic Party raised an issue about carrots purportedly wasting away on farms in San Carlos Village.  The Ministry of Agriculture was quick to refute those claims made by Opposition Leader Shyne Barrow and pointed out that no importation permits have been issued for carrots to be brought into the country since November 2023.  This morning, representatives from the Belize Marketing and Distribution Cooperation, B.M.D.C., also weighed in on the issue, reiterating government’s position.

 

Sergio Tillett, Senior Projects Officer, B.M.D.C.

“The B.M.D.C. as one of the main arms when it comes to the distribution and marketing of produce does its best to ensure that our farmers do have the market whenever it comes to local production.  And, as such, our ministry has done quite a job to ensure that we do site inspections, we do field visits to ensure that when we have enough production we don’t apply for an import permit.  And even if we did, the ministry monitors that and they will never give us either because they have their extension services that monitor the amount of production in the country.  We have figures as to what is the weekly consumption of every vegetable, so once we notice there is enough in the field there is no import permit.  And that’s how we control what is there.  So, one of the concerns that we have is that lots of the times whenever there is local production, the prices tend to be high and carrots is not really a necessity.”