Caribbean: Jamaica-Guyana Fail To Resolve Rice Dispute

The Jamaican government has warned that it will override any Guyanese resistance to its request for a suspension of Caribbean Community's (CARI-COM) 25 % common external tariff (CET) on the import of up to 24,000 MT of rice.

CARICOM is a fledgling economic union between 14 regional states of which Jamaica and Guyana are both members, but with the rising price for the commodity globally, Guyanese shippers have been wary of entering the six-month forward contracts that have been requested by Jamaica.

Guyana has not yet staked out a formal position on Jamaica's move, but the country's agriculture minister, Robert Persaud has insisted that Guyana can adequately supply the Jamaican market.
 

Guyana is the Caribbean's largest producer of rice. It sells a fifth of the 300,000 MT (270,000 MT) it produces yearly to Jamaic