STOP CALLING ON GOVERNMENT to ban imported produce to protect the agricultural sector, Minister of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Water Resource Management Dr David Estwick has told Barbadians, particularly farmers.
Speaking to the media recently at his office in Graeme Hall, Christ Church, he said that while Government understood the concerns of the farming community, in a world of trade liberalization where Barbados was signatory to the rules of the World Trade Organization, Cabinet could not unilaterally decide to use protectionist commercial and licensing policies.
“It is against the law. We can’t stop any Barbadian from applying for a licence to import anything unless the state establishes a state trading enterprise which would be set [up] by the Cabinet to have sole importer responsibility for that item.
“We have done this with respect to poultry and onions,” he explained.
In addition, Estwick pointed out that if Barbados sought to halt imports from its neighbours, this could have serious implications for its financial earning capacity.
“If you were to do this with regard to many other products, do you not believe Jamaica would do the same thing – or St Lucia or Guyana?
“We export about 60 to 65 per cent of our domestic exports within the OECS alone. If they were to do the same thing to Barbados, who would be hurt?” he asked journalists. (BGIS)
