A major court ruling is putting millions on the line for Belize’s cane farmers. The Court of Appeal has cleared the way for a high-stakes legal battle between the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association and Tate & Lyle Sugars, rejecting efforts to send the dispute overseas and ruling that it will be heard right here in Belize. At the heart of it, more than nine million dollars in Fairtrade premiums the farmers say they’re owed. With jurisdiction now settled, the fight moves to trial, where the farmers hope to finally secure what they claim is rightfully theirs. News Five’s Britney Gordon reports.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
More than nine million dollars is on the line for over two thousand sugar farmers. The Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association is suing, claiming unpaid Fairtrade premiums from 2021 to 2023, plus interest. After an attempt to move the case to London failed, the Court of Appeal ruled it will be heard in Belize. Now, the association says it’s ready to take the fight to trial.
Alfredo Ortega
Alfredo Ortega, Vice Chairman, BSCFA
“We were trying to negotiate with them that this premium has nothing to do with the agreement. Nevertheless, because they are from the same mother company, from ASR/BSI and Tate and Lyle. So they took on their own to use that as a tool against the BSCFA, trying to hammer us in not paying us our premium that is due to the farmers of the BSCFA. Because, as you know, we have been certified from ever since, and we continue to be certified even we have not been getting any Fairtrade premium. But our farmers, our association has been working very diligently to maintain the certification, and that is what took us to where we are at this point.”
With jurisdiction settled, Tate & Lyle Sugars now has forty-two days to build its case. The company argues the BSCFA isn’t owed Fairtrade premiums because it didn’t sign a new Letter of Enhancement after the 2020–2021 agreement expired. But the farmers’ attorney says TLS still bought Fairtrade sugar and should pay accordingly.
On the Phone: Magali Marin-Young, Attorney-at-law
“Now the question is, we say that even with the absence of this letter of enhanced agreement, that in fact these premiums are due and payable to every single sugarcane producer association that sells fair trade eligible sugarcane to the sugar mill. So that also includes BSCFAs. So we’re saying we don’t need a written contract under the Fairtrade regulations to be eligible for the BSCFA to be eligible to collect this. It’s due and payable to them. They sold fair trade eligible sugarcane to the mill as well as the other associations.”
Former Agriculture Minister Jose Abelardo Mai warns that pushing ahead with costly litigation couldn’t come at a worse time, as Belize’s sugar industry grapples with a deepening crisis.
Jose Abelardo Mai
Jose Abelardo Mai, Former Minister of Agriculture
“At this time, the high cost of fuel. We have very uncertain weather. Climate change is affecting seriously. We have poor soil health because we’ve burned sugar cane fields for 50 years, twice a year. So the soil health is at the poorest. We have the worst diseases, pest and diseases in the country right now in sugar cane. They yield like eleven tons per acre The mill has serious deficiencies. They need a boiler ten million dollars. Their cane fields are probably maybe the worst. The yields are horrible. Cane farmers, sugar cane farmers have very poor yields. So this litigation comes at a wrong time.”
BSCFA Vice Chairman Alfredo Ortega acknowledges the lawsuit comes at a critical time for the industry but insists farmers must receive what they are rightfully owed.
Alfredo Ortega
“It’s a very tough situation for the farmers because with all what you have mentioned, there is also the, the man power problem that we are facing with cutters. That’s another issue that we are facing. Sometimes the problem with the mills, with the mill that sometimes it’s not working good. So there’s a whole pile of things that have been very negative towards the farmers. Nevertheless, I think that because we were born here in the north with this sugarcane industry with us, we have it in our blood, we have it in our hearts, and we continue to do what we need to do.”
Marin-Young added that in 2021, the BSCFA pushed to renegotiate its commercial contract with BSI, a move that sparked unrest when talks broke down. She claims that afterward, TLS withheld a Letter of Enhancement Agreement from the BSCFA, though it signed agreements with other producer groups. Britney Gordon for News Five.
Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.
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