According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Guyana will now be able to bid on three quotas, totalling 30,000 metric tonnes of paddy for export to Mexico, following the Government of Mexico’s decision to allow the tax free importation of 150,000 metric tonnes of paddy and rice products from outside of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) member states.
A press release from the Ministry said, “The Mexi-can Government recently cleared the way for countries to bid for quotas to import rice and rice products into the country. Guyana will now be able to send paddy to the Spanish speaking nation as the National Service of Health, Safety and Agro-Food Quality (SENASICA) recently approved imports of paddy from Guyana,” while adding that the SENASICA is currently processing Guyana’s Sanitary and Phytosanitary certificate to import rice.
It noted that Guyana is among a group of countries set to make bids for exports into the market, and negotiations are currently ongoing between the Ministers of Agriculture from both countries to ensure that Guyana satisfies the necessary criteria to be part of the bidding process.
However, the statement explained that applications from countries can only be made in quotas of 10,000 metric tonnes, and each country is only allowed to apply for three quotas. “Guyana is currently negotiating prices with companies in Mexico [that] expressed an interest in purchasing paddy during the recently concluded exposition,” the release added.
The media bulletin said representatives from the Guyana Rice Development Board, the Guyana Rice Exporters and Millers Association, along with other private millers, recently attended the Expo Antad in Guadalajara, Mexico. “It was during this visit that Mexican Ambas-sador to Guyana and Plenipotentiary Represen-tative to Caricom, His Excellency, Mr Ivan Sierra, made provisions for the team to have a liaison who related the information that was later published in the Mexican official Gazette,” the statement said.
It highlighted that the Gazette stated that during the period of January to December 2017, the Government of Mexico has granted approval for 150,000 metric tonnes of paddy and rice products to enter Mexico from outside of NAFTA, free of the payment of taxes. “Normally taxes for countries, other than NAFTA member states, trading with Mexico, are 9% on paddy and 20% on rice products,” the statement pointed out in conclusion.
