The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry in a press release today, stated that it is calling on the Government of Guyana “to consider the strict application of the Principle of Reciprocity as it relates to trade with Trinidad and Tobago.”
This move by the GCCI is in response to the twin island of Trinidad and Tobago’s refusal of milk products produced by the Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) to enter the country.
At a press conference yesterday, the Chairman of the DDL Group, Komal Samaroo expressed his frustration over the matter. He told members of the media that on the advice of a Trinidad Business Enterprise which determined that there is a market for the company’s milk and water products, the company shipped four 20ft containers of packaged milk and bottled flavoured water.
However, the two containers containing the milk products were denied entry into Trinidad and Tobago and sent back to Guyana while the flavoured water was set aside for further examination. This examination was described by the Chairman as “extremely onerous and stringent.”
The containers of milk products that were sent back to Guyana were valued at US $100,000.
In its statement, the GCCI described the incident as one of many incidents that highlight “the flagrant mistreatment of the Guyana private sector.”
The incidents cited by the GCCI include the rejection of containers of pineapples to T&T because the crowns were not removed, the rejection of containers of peppers because the stems were not removed, the instituting of a ban on poultry meat from Guyana though no trade is done between the two countries in poultry, the requirement of agricultural products to be fumigated with methyl bromide- a substance banned under the Montreal Protocol, the requirement to apply hypochlorous acid on eddoes and the rejection and discarding of honey to be transshipped through T&T.
The body is also calling for the removal of Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) that it described as representing “flagrant violations” of the Treaty of Chaguaramas.
Earlier today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation described the act by Trinidad and Tobago as an affront to the spirit of the Caribbean integration agenda and must not be accepted.”
The Chairman of DDL, Komal Samaroo has indicated that the company is willing to take the matter to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).