Sufficient rice available for CARICOM market; Grenada to abort plan to buy grain extra-regionally

Last Updated on Friday, 27 September 2024, 21:04 by Writer

Guyana on Friday assured the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) market that there is sufficient rice, and that shipments of the grain were on their way to Grenada, effectively pushing back plans by that island to ask the regional trade ministerial council for permission to buy rice from outside the region, officials said.

“I would ask the Ministry of Trade to put a hold on that because the request to go to COTED (Council for Trade and Economic Development) actually stemmed from my correspondence with that ministry so given the updates that I got and the confirmation by the private purchasers, I think we could put a hold on that application to COTED,” General Manager of the Marketing and National Importing Board (MNIB), Elvis Young told Demerara Waves Online News.

He said following discussions with Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha and the Deputy General Manager of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), he was satisfied that there was now a protocol to communicate with the GRDB about grain supplies. If necessary, Mr Young said concerns could be escalated to communication between the ministers of agriculture of both Grenada and Guyana.

“That intervention from the Minister of Agriculture and the Deputy Manager of the Rice Board certainly brought a feeling of comfort,” Mr Young said, adding that he never had a number for Guyana Rice Development Board before Friday’s meeting so now the MNIB would be in a position to intervene and resolve concerns.

A senior rice industry official said there was less Guyanese rice on the Grenadian market because “there was delay in shipment—not getting vessel and containers in a timely manner—which is being sorted out; it is not a case of shortage of rice.”

The state-owned MNIB is not Grenada’s only rice importer, but its General Manager said on Friday that one of the rice millers had informed him that there was a shortage of rice in Guyana due to bad weather, and another had said supplies were being reserved for Guyana’s domestic market. He said the Board’s order was placed since February, 2024. “Our experience here shows that there is a shortage because quite a number of supermarket shelves are empty. One company reported that they were selling basmati rice as never before because they ran out of parboiled rice,” he said.

In terms of easing the shortage in shops and supermarkets in Grenada, Demerara Waves Online News was told that four containers of rice sailed on September 19, 2024 to Grenada with supplies for two independent agencies, Renwick Thompson and Kalico. Mr Young said one of the Grenadian companies received its shipment on Friday and the other would receive its consignment next week. “Based on those three containers, I think the situation will sober down a bit,” he said. They are also expected to receive five additional containers of rice that are expected to leave Guyana on October 3. He said he has been given assurances that MNIB’s order to CARICOM Rice Mills would be processed next week.

MNIB imports mostly bulk rice amounting to 24 metric tonnes per month. That figure does not include imports by the private sector.

The Guyanese Minister of Agriculture told Demerara Waves Online News on Friday that he would be calling in the Guyana Rice Millers and Exporters Association to insist that all market demands be satisfied. He rejected claims in Grenada that there was a shortage of rice locally. “There is sufficient rice in Guyana that we are harvesting now and the yield is good,” he said, stressing that President Irfaan Ali instructed him that Guyana must not neglect any rice market in the Caribbean.

Mr Mustapha said he would also be informing COTED that there is no shortage of the grain in Guyana and that demands could be satisfied.

Under regional free trade rules, CARICOM member states must buy regionally produced items once there is sufficient production. If not, a purchasing member state could apply to COTED for approval to source its supplies from outside the regional bloc.