Court Hears $9M Fairtrade Premium Dispute Between BSCFA and Tate & Lyle

The Belize Court of Appeal has heard arguments in a high-stakes legal dispute between the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association (BSCFA) and Tate & Lyle Sugars Limited (TLS) over approximately $9 million in Fairtrade premiums.

The hearing lasted nearly four hours. TLS challenged a 2025 High Court decision that refused to strike out the BSCFA’s claim. The association filed the lawsuit in March 2024 against Belize Sugar Industries (BSI), which sells Fairtrade-eligible sugar to TLS under a long-term agreement.

The BSCFA is seeking payment of Fairtrade (FT) premiums for the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 crop years, plus interest. The association argues that its members produced Fairtrade-certified cane during those periods and are entitled to the premiums generated from those sales.

TLS maintains that the BSCFA is not entitled to the premiums because it did not sign a Letter of Enhancement (LOE), a document the company says is required to govern payment of FT premiums. The 2021 LOE contained an arbitration clause requiring disputes to be resolved in London. TLS argues that the matter should therefore be referred to arbitration rather than proceed in the Belize courts.

The BSCFA contends that the 2021 LOE applied only to the 2020/2021 crop year and had expired before the years now in dispute. The association argues that no valid LOE existed for the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 crop years and that an expired agreement cannot govern future disputes.

Senior Counsel Magali Marin-Young and Allister Jenkins appeared for the BSCFA. Senior Counsel Eamon Courtenay and Iliana Swift represented TLS, while Senior Counsel Godfrey Smith, Hector Guerra and Edgar Lord appeared for BSI. Although not a party to the appeal, BSI was granted permission to make submissions.

In its claim, the BSCFA alleges that TLS and BSI unlawfully withheld the LOE for the disputed crop years, effectively depriving cane farmers of access to Fairtrade premiums. The association is seeking damages, alleging unlawful conspiracy and breach of Fairtrade regulations.

TLS and BSI deny the allegations and argue that Fairtrade standards require a contract between buyer and producer associations for premiums to be paid.