T&L Sugars Loses Bid to Kill Farmers’ Multi-Million Dollar Fairtrade Claim

Belize’s Court of Appeal has dismissed a major legal challenge by British sugar giant T&L Sugars Limited. The decision clears the way for a high-stakes Fairtrade premium dispute to proceed to full trial in Belize between the company and the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association (BSCFA).

The Monday ruling rejected T&L’s bid to strike out a claim brought by the BSCFA. At the centre of the dispute is approximately nine million dollars in Fairtrade premiums tied to sugar cane produced by Belizean farmers during the 2021 to 2023 crop years, money the BSCFA says was withheld and never passed on to them.

T&L had argued the Belizean court had no jurisdiction over the matter, insisting any dispute should be resolved through arbitration in London. The Court of Appeal disagreed, with Justice Sandra Minott-Phillips finding the case raises real issues that deserve a full hearing and that Belize has proper jurisdiction. The court also found no evidence that any arbitration clause from a previously expired agreement still applied to the dispute.

BSCFA Vice Chairman Alfredo Ortega welcomed the ruling. “Our lawyer worked very diligently and hard, and this is the result that we got yesterday,” he said.

Ortega confirmed the case now returns to the High Court, with T&L given 42 days to file its defence. “The court will set a date on which the trial will start for the case,” he added.

The BSCFA’s core claim alleges that T&L and Belize Sugar Industries conspired to withhold Fairtrade premiums that should have gone directly to farmers. The full trial is yet to be scheduled.

Meanwhile, former agriculture minister Jose Abelardo Mai also weighed in on the court’s decision. Mai said during this morning’s episode of Open Your Eyes that the sugar industry is already facing “its worst crisis in its history” and does not need costly litigation on top of it.

He also pointed to high fuel costs, climate change, poor soil health, and crop diseases already crippling farmers. “The mill has serious deficiencies. Cane farmers are having very poor yields, so this litigation comes at a wrong time. All those resources could be placed where they are mostly needed right now,” Mai added.

Full details tonight on News 5 Live at 6 o’clock.