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Earlier in the news, you saw the Albert Division's Area Representative, Tracy Panton, out on Albert Street assuring business owners and residents living in the downtown area that the cops will be taking action to stop the recent spate of armed robberies. 

We also asked for an update as the Minister of State in the Ministry of Trade and Investment Promotion about the situation with Santander, who illegally sold sugar on the local market. 

The 3 cane farming associations from the north are calling for the Government to hand them the maximum fine under the law as a penalty for the violation.

These farmer associations have also insisted that the Government's EPZ committee should reject Santander's application for a waiver to sell white and brown sugar on the local market. 

In their lengthy release, the associations said, quote, ""approval of the waiver would mean destroying the financial livelihood of thousands of cane farmers…while supporting the…profits of the multinational, Santander," end quote.

We asked the Minister about that concern from the farmers, and here's what she had to say:

Hon. Tracy Taegar-Panton - Minister of State, Trade
"The government has not sided at all with the multinational, I don't know where that sentiment comes from. There is a process that we need to take so that we can gather all the relevant information about what happened and how it happened so the appropriate action can be taken against the person who did wrong. Santander had no permission or permit or waver from the government to sell any of its products on the local market. It violated its EPZ status when it did that and so the EPZ committee will meet. The evidence is obviously glaring against Santander but we have to allow the process to take place. We have listened to the cane farmers associations; in fact my CEO is in the north currently having meetings. We will speak with all stakeholders. The sugar sector is a very important economic sector for the country of Belize and we can't ignore that. Santander contributes to the export earnings from sugar to Belize and so we're trying to be fair to all parties concerned in particular to our farmers."

Daniel Ortiz
"What effect are you able to say this violation of the EPZ, will that have or can play into the approval, the final approval of the application that's in front of the EPZ committee?"

Hon. Tracy Taegar-Panton
"You see I can't speak for the EPZ committee. I know that the ministry itself will provide its recommendations based on its findings and clearly there is a violation and a very serious violation and that I am sure will be taken into account by the committee."

Reporter
"Will they be fined?"

Hon. Tracy Taegar-Panton
"There are repercussions, they will be fined, there will be other sanctions against Santander but I need to give the committee its room and time to do its work. We have to be fair and Santander is fully aware as you read in their press release that they violated their conditions of doing business in Belize and that will be dealt with the strictest letter of the law."

Reporter
"Some think that the government is being light handed, very easy on Santander."

Hon. Tracy Taegar-Panton
"There is a process by law and the process involves the EPZ committee and if the government sets up these mechanisms for review and consideration, we need to use them."

You'll also remember that Opposition Leader John Briceño, in his press conference from yesterday, said that the Government ought to do more to help Santander to get a commercial foothold in the CARICOM Markets, so that they won't need to sell sugar in Belize. Minister Panton told us that actually, the government has been diligently working to just that:

Hon. Tracy Taegar-Panton
"The leader of the opposition suggested that the government needs to do more to ensure that there is market access for Belize sugar in CARICOM. There is market access, there has always been market access at duty free rates and so what I think he was trying to get at was greater market penetration into the Caribbean. I want you to know that for the last 3 months or so, there has been a very active committee which includes ASR, BSI which has included Santander, it has included the ministry of agriculture, included the ministry of trade in trying to have greater market penetration in the CARICOM for Belizean sugar. There are standards that we need to meet, there is a quality that we need to meet. Of course there is also the issue of competitive pricing and so we have been in active discussions at COTED which is the trade committee of the CARICOM in which we're trying not only for Belize sugar but for Jamaica, for Barbados and other sugar producing countries in the region so that we can have higher tariffs for sugar that's coming outside of the region because sugar is such an important part of our national economy."

The EPZ Committee has not made a final decision on what penalty Santander will face for their violation, and the application for their waiver to sell sugar in Belize.