I know the needle is stuck again but...

You can't bring 99.99% of the varieties of beer that are available in the world to Belize. It's illegal.

You can't bring in imported mineral waters (such as Canadian Club)....it's illegal.

You can't bring in most imported soft drinks. They're illegal.

You can't bring in imported orange juice to Belize...it's illegal. (OK, on that one I can understand, we do have very good local orange juice).

We had the well-documented "cheese wars" where imported cheddar cheese was banned from Belize until someone in a high place in Government in Belize realized that the local cheese "equivalent" looked like cheddar, felt like cheddar and tasted like tofu flavoured with Japanese seaweed.

Now for the latest banned item: Imported pineapple juice such as that made by Dole or Del Monte. Yes, folks! Pineapple juice has joined the list of banned items coming into Belize. This is because some crappy local "businessperson" manufactures pineneapple concentrate (consisting of sugar, saccharin, artificial flavours, artificial colours and a bit of actual pineapple) in Belize and has gone crying to the government to ban imports of "competing" pineapple juices....even though the Dole and Del Monte products are completely different kinds of juice.

This is becoming a disturbing trend in Belize...how long will it be before this government bans imports of every item that someone claims to manufacture in Belize, even though the local item is often horribly inferior to the import?

I agree with the idea of protecting local jobs. But! shouldn't the benchmark be that the locally manufactured product be proven to be as good as the imported "competition" before the imports are banned? Only locally produced orange juice "passes muster" in this case.

We have a government which is crying for more tax dollars and yet they're banning goods which attract import duty. How progressive of them.

Can't tell you how many requests I get for non-alcoholic beer, Seltzer Waters, Sparkling Waters, Diet Sodas.

The worst thing is that I get loads of requests for local cheese but half the time I can't get it. Same goes for orange juice.

We have the best pineapples in the world in Belize (IMTO) why can't we produce a product superior to what we see on the shelves today. Why can't we compete with Jumex and Valle juices?

Of course the answer to that is "We CAN compete with the best"....but as long as the government takes the bribes and hands out concessions to the manufacturers of crappy products there is no incentive to BE the best.

What! No diet Coke in Belize? Are you guys serious? My friends and I are traveling to SP in June for the first time. I can deal with only local beers, but I must have my diet Coke or Pepsi.

NO Pepsi...only Coke!! (A John Belushi favorite of mine) They do have diet coke, only it's Coke Lite. But, no pepsi products. And, coke lite isn't available everywhere. Mostly in the stores, not in the restaraunts or bars. Well, a few have it, but not all.

Island Supermarket has them all, from Diet Dr, Pepper to Diet Pepsi. They also have fizzy water.

what exactly is "fizzy water"?

Seltzer. It is hit and miss on supply though and pricey.

Really??? they have Pepsi....great to know. I don't care for Coke mcuh, but will drink it if it's all they have. Much prefer Pepsi. Thanks SIN

this thread went off track, but chris, you have good points. the fruit there is yummy, why cant they produce quality fruit juices that are actually available. as for s&s, c'mon, you are travelling to a foreign country: leave your US tastes behind and try what locals eat & drink!! i cannot understand why this is even an issue?? you kinda make us sound like the rest of the world thinks we are like (ahem, tourists). where you can get it, i highly recommend limeade. my mouth waters just thinking about it. i never had it anywhere as good as in belize.

i leave for turkey next month and hope to find, eat and drink NOTHING american there. JMHO. (whew, thanks for letting me vent). have a nice day.

I suppose my point is...BTL and their VOIP blocking, imported beer blocking, the (short lived) blocking of importation of blocks of cheese, soft drinks imports blocking, imported pineapple juice blocking.

This is not about saving jobs, it's all about pandering to greedy 2nd rate businessmen who hand out bribes to get their way.

What's next, no imported rums, vodkas, whiskys, brandys, wines, because the local producers say they manufacture it here and they want to protect their worker's jobs?

It's called "protectionism" and it really, REALLY sucks.

sweetJane, I'm all for your choice of not eating or drinking anything American in Turkey....but that will be your CHOICE, not because Turkey is banning American imports.

There is no initiative to say, "we ARE the best!" when the few can influence the few.

.....sniffle..... What is a Panty Ripper going to taste like now? CRAP!

Big-H produces an excellent pinapple juice. Made in Cayo and not put in an aluminum can.

I wasn't too long ago that a person couldn't purchase anything besides pringles from the US.

A lil' sacrifice on the consumer's part will help to strengthen the Belize market, significantly. Belize offers a host of great food products from Lobster to Red Kidney Beans. It is not about import duties, and finding US$ for more imports, but rather consuming as much locally produced products as we can. For those that have a need to eat fine cheeses and fizzy water, Chetumal and NAFTA is just a 20 minute flight away.

I wish the US would purchase more sugar from Belize also, and stop protecting the US sugar producers!

SIN

Boy, I remember in the recent past that apple juice ended up on the banned list. Well my kids live on apple juice. Belize doesn't grow apples but somebody was making apple juice from concentrate. Yeah right, it was apple flavoured sugar water. I went out and bought every box of real apple juice I could find. But somebody must have spoken into the right ear because lo and behold, the juice is back on the shelves.

I think that we should be able to import all of the abovementioned items - and pay a luxury price for it. If you want imported beer, have it - at $8 a bottle or whatever the price needs to be.

Many of our locally produced food products are so grim I wouldn't feed them to Pedro1.

We do have some excellent products too - plantain chips, orange juice, milk, tasty chickens. But we do not produce flavourful cheeses, apple juice, or treated pine lumber (any more.)

I would rather pay a premium on imported luxury items than not even have a choice.

Since when do we not produce treated lumber?

I meant GOOD QUALITY treated pine.

Now we never produced good quality or even straight for that matter but it is treated.

Belize has some of the most beautiful exotic woods and you argue over treated???

Treated if you want to survive the termites.

There are other natural woods that will survive the termites, but they are hard to find and more costly than treated if you want any quantity. treated is the most cost effective way to go, just do not ask for straight walls.

I guess you don't remember the beautiful straight, clear pine that we used to get here. Hasn't been available since the pine trees were decimated.

I remember it but the termites thought it was candy. Here in Toledo we still have lots of bueatiful wood available if you can afford it.

Sorry, thought we were talking about Ambergris Caye.

I have a lovely, semi-twisted Belizean treated pine house. Will be heading there in a moment, with hammer in hand to try and put the nails back in where the warping has taken over!

...back to the original subject of this thread for a sec, RE: ban on pineapple juice... for anyone worried about the quality of their panty rippers, here is a fantastic and easy solution.

1. Buy a ripe pineapple (or two)
2. Cut off the top/bottom/outside
3. Cut it into manageable sized pieces
4. Throw the pieces in a blender
5. Turn the blender to the "on" position
6. Wait, oh, a minute or so... turn blender "off"
7. Strain contents of blender and drink the liquid part...

low and behold, it will taste very much like fresh pineapple juice.

Well, Ill be damn.

Amen to that!

You can also feel free to try the mango, soursop, custard apple, tamarind, banana, coconut water and any other local fruit flavor juice flavor you like. Guaranteed fresh, no preservatives. Beats apple juice any day.

Thanks and cheers,
Wendy

not to instigate here...

is there actually a complete list somewhere on what is banned? As i prepare for my move, i need to know...can my very sweet albeit picky (and oft times stupid) cats special food be brought in? Thats just an example, but it seems like the list of banned changes regularly.

guess just wondering if the govt has a posted list somewhere.

thanks!

Well I stopped serving breakfast cause you all know I don't do beef or pork ..... since Quality Poultry decided they could make turkey Ham?????? (which they just never have when trying to order a case) they bannned all imported turkey products as in ham, bacon & sausage (the latter 2 aren't even products they make???) Well now it's back on the shelves and I had to let 4 good workers go cause we couldn't depend on products!!!! Next the threat of Pasta cause the Nice Local Brand (when boiled clumps together inedible) so I was gonna change the name of the restaurant Rasta with not so NICE Pasta????? The Mennonite mozerella when melted also reminded you of sitting on a hot bus in Cayo with them. Sorry couldn't resist.... one love

you are too funny girl!

Lara,

Which cat food do you need and I can tell you if you can get it here.

S...

Another reminder...wattch what you bring back from Belize-especially thru Houston,very strict.this does not mean illegal substances either.

Never been questioned at all in 20 trips thru IAH ...mebbe it's my good looks & charm.

K - I'll bet that's eggactly what it is!

eggsackly L - good one!

Wow - that's 2 good 1's in 1 day from u!
Lucky me

need a sticker?

got plenty, thanks!
how about you?

no thx, my sticky of choice, at least in this context, tends more towards gold stars.( thx to my elementary school math teacher) :p and stickers are now on the list of banned items too, I hear.

and now, back to your regularly scheduled program.

Is it just me - or does that tongue look like it has licked a few gold stars?
Stickers can never be banned as long as you have them in your heart...

Dog biscuits are banned though!

No more cookies?

When you BUY Belize you BUILD Belize!

For the first time today in PG I saw canned cat food in Supals market. I thought of this thread, how sick is that. Anyway it was Wiskas canned kitty food.

Amen to that, Sir Isaac.

But when you buy imported goods, you help pay off the countries HUGE debt with the large import duty paid.

That way, the Government can then "borrow" even more.

Ad infinitum.

SIN, I would like to buy a can of fresh and tasty Belizean pineapple juice ready to pour into a Caribbean rum.

Well, I can get the rum.

Protectionism is the security blanket of the 2nd rate businessman.

Protectionism is the security blanket of a third world developing nation.

In efforts to help keep Belize sustainable I would purchase a pineapple grown here in BELIZE and sold by a BELIZEAN farmer to a fruit market here on the island. A quick peel and squeeze and I have fresh pineapple juice (no aluminum can taste and no preservatives and no insect parts - yes they're in there). Viola!

Taking just a few minutes out of my relaxed life here in SP has just helped to grow our growing economy.

Purchasing imports put very little money into the economy as the capital goes back out to restock new imports. Duh? It's called a trade inbalance. Every time we choose to go the easy route and buy foreign products we do nothing to help Belize.

If it is such a big deal and you don't care about our economy, move to Hawaii and drink all the Dole you wish. They have good cheese there also.

SIN

SIN, when was the last time you even bought a pineapple? I can tell you that it's seldom a "quick peel and a squeeze" by the time you get by the rot. I actually do eat fresh pineapple by the pound, it's the fresh stuff, not out of a can. It's not exactly convenient to prepare. And buying a "fresh" pineapple is very hit and miss...you can buy one that looks and feels great, take it home and find you bought a rotted carcass of a fruit. I doubt the bartender at your local drinking hole has the time to peel and blend fresh pineapple when you and other patrons are demanding quick service.

Big H does a good, fresh pineapple juice, I'll try it and ff it's freely available I'll buy it, no problem. You know full well that it's scarce especially here on the island.

SIN, what do you think of the BTL's VOIP blocking? Do you think that Ashcroft's excuse of "protecting Belizean jobs at BTL" is good for the Belizean economy?

What helps economies world-side is free trade and competition. It has been shown time and time again that protectionism helps no-one except the multi-millionaires who bribe government officials to get it put into place.

SIN, don't take this the wrong way, but I cannot reconcile your continual support for this government and your concern for the Belizean economy. Something HAS to give. It's truly nothing personal, it's just baffling to me.

Chris are you doing better or worse then when the PUP came into power in 1998? (rhetorical)

A lot of people are. Imagine if the other guy won and rewon. The lesser of the two evils is and was my choice.

Not clouding the issue (as you di), do you agree in the fact that when you buy Belize you build Belize? Actions of the people are the first step as politicians will always be politicians. We can only do the best that we can for our home. Because much "ras" happens higher up doesn't equate to us all throwing in the towel and continuing the love affair with imported products.

SIN