PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, May 14 – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries say they will continue to oppose subsidies being granted to the UK-based Diageo, one of the world’s biggest producers of rum, because of the impact the subsidy is having on rum producers in the Caribbean.
Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General Irwin La Rocque told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that while the trade ministers who met in Guyana last week had endorsed the stance being taken to have the matter aired at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
“I want to make it clear, we do not have an issue with the United States Virgin Islands, we do not have an issue with the recoverable programme of the resources that the US Virgin Islands (USVI) receives from the US Treasury. We do not have an issue that has always been there.
“The problem is the subsidy that is being provided to probably the largest alcohol producer in the world, Diageo, and it puts our rum producers at a distinct disadvantage.”
