Some regional countries, according to Agriculture Minister Saboto Caesar, are obstructing the trade of honey, hence impeding investment in the sector.
Caesar disclosed the information while addressing the recently held Regional and International Beekeepers Congress in St. Vincent.
“On the issue of regionalism, some countries are blocking the movement of trade in honey; because of that, there are some stakeholders in some member states that are not investing further in honey production and apiculture in general because they do not have access to very large markets”.
“So, when we speak about our honey import bill as a region going forward, I am asking for consensus as it pertains to the removal of trade barriers,” Caesar said.
As it pertains to the domestic market, Ceasar said that the fogging by the vector unit is also a challenge to the beekeepers.
To address the issue, he assured the beekeepers that the Ministry has written to the pesticides board and also engaged the Minister of Health and the Chief Medical Officer on the matter.
“We all know how critical it is to ensure that the mosquitoes don’t have their way but we have to balance this not only with the protection of the bees there are many persons in the scientific field who are also noting that there are far better opportunities that we have available today that we can utilize to protect both bees and human beings.”
Caesar said food security continues to play a very vital role not only in production and productivity but with the significant inflation in the cost of food, food ecosystems must be protected.
