Cancun, QR. As part of the commercial and business mission between Quintana Roo and Belize, the delegation represented by Rosa Elena Lozano Vázquez, local secretary of Economic Development (Headquarters), participated this week in working meetings in the Corozal Free Trade Zone with authorities from Puerto Belize and Big Creek also visited shrimp and citrus packing companies, juices and animal feed.
In the introductory meeting to Belize and the visit to the Corozal Free Zone, derived from the work tour, it was agreed to generate greater academic and cultural exchange, strengthen customs facilities in both free zones, as well as promote joint work with National Service for Agrifood Health, Safety and Quality (Senasica).
During the visit to the packers, the possibility that these companies could settle in the Quintana Roo Industrial Park was exposed, as well as the development of technology for the improvement of farms in the state.
Lozano Vázquez commented that the ports of Belize and Big Creek represent two allies for the strengthening and development of foreign trade between Quintana Roo and the Central American neighbor.
Among the main activities of these two main ports of the neighboring country is the export of bananas, citrus fruits and shrimp.
Advantages of the RFE
In the work meeting with Andy Lane, chief executive of the Port of Belize, and Zaid Flores, director of the Port of Big Creek, business options, import and export of containers were analyzed and presented; The next visit of these maritime authorities to the Strategic Bonded Warehouse (RFE) of Quintana Roo, within the Chetumal Industrial Park, was also agreed upon.
Prior to this visit, a Belizean delegation visited Chetumal with the aim of strengthening trade relations between that country and Quintana Roo.
The visit consisted of a work agenda for bilateral economic promotion, made up of the Minister of Agriculture of Belize, Abelardo Mai; the representative of the Office of the Prime Minister and Investments, Narda García; the ambassadors of Belize in Mexico, Oscar Arnold, and Neri Ramírez, from the Corozal Free Zone.
The head of the Headquarters indicated to the delegation that the RFE represents a competitive advantage, since by using this customs regime, companies benefit from the reduction of time and logistics costs.
As well as the deferral of payment of foreign trade taxes, in addition to being a space in which merchandise can undergo various processes, such as: storage, handling, custody, exhibition, sale, distribution, processing, transformation and repair. .
Context
Both visits took place in the context of bilateral negotiations between Mexico and Belize for the consolidation of a free trade agreement, according to Ramon Cervantes, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Migration of Belize, who was during the delegation that visited Chetumal the last week.
These negotiations date back to 2014, the year in which the first proposals for this treaty were announced.
At that time, the honorary consul of Mexico in Belize, Jorge Valencia Gómez, announced that the agreement was being negotiated to extend the hours of stay of the trucks that daily transport visitors from Belize to Chetumal and other border communities.
To this end, the aim was to establish common safety rules that cargo trucks and passenger and tourism buses that cross the Mexico-Belize border in both directions must comply with. It is, he said, to promote competitiveness in motor transport, encourage tourism and trade, as well as define travel routes and terminals, without restricting the number of units that enter Mexico and vice versa.
As a show of will, since 2012, Belize made its trade with Mexico more flexible, releasing a list of 34 tariff items so that they could be introduced into their country exempt from import permits, which significantly benefited producers on the peninsula. of Yucatan and the Mexican southeast such as Tabasco and Chiapas.
The products that since September 1, 2012 are free of import permits in Belize are: meat, poultry, grains, fruits and vegetables, flour, peanuts, pasta products, citrus fruits, jellies, jams, sauces, soaps, bleach, matches, t-shirts, motor boats and wooden furniture (bamboo or rattan).
According to data provided by the Ministry of Economic Development, commercial exchange on this border came to represent 60 million dollars annually before the pandemic.