Belize welcomed Mexico’s announcement that it will allow all agricultural products in the country, including livestock, to enter Mexico duty-free.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was in Belize last Saturday “on a working visit” when he made the announcement.
In 2021, Mexico implemented a sectoral promotion program that reduces most-favoured-nation (MFN) tariffs to zero or five percent on a wide range of important inputs needed for export manufacturing. from Mexico.
During his visit, the Mexican President had bilateral talks with Prime Minister John Briceño and attended the ceremony in which a letter of intent for the implementation of the Sowing Life project in Belize was signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Immigration. , by Eamon Courtenay, and Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico.
Agriculture, Food Security and Business Minister Jose Abelardo Mai, in a statement posted on the government’s press office Facebook page, said the announcement allowing agricultural products from Belize to enter Mexico duty-free” is one of the greatest moments in the history of both nations.
“Our government has been asking for a reduction in cattle tariffs since we were elected. Minister Courtenay and his team spent days working to reach an acceptable trade deal that would benefit our producers.”
The Minister of Agriculture said that this announcement on zero customs duties on agricultural products “will radically change the future of agriculture in our country”.
“On behalf of the farmers and people of Belize, I thank President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and the Mexican government for granting us such an opportunity. The farmers and their families are truly grateful,” he said, also thanking “Courtenay and his team for the perseverance and commitment in the agro-productive sector.
“But to God be all praise. He heard the cry and answered the prayers of our Belizean farmers and their families!! GOD IS GREAT”, wrote the Minister of Agriculture.
CMC/
