Belize Member profile
No notifications submitted by Belize
Trade policy review
Latest Trade Policy Review (Report by the WTO Secretariat): WT/TPR/S/353/Rev.1
A. Import prohibitions and restrictions and import licensing
3.37.
Import prohibitions, as listed in the Customs Regulation Prohibited Goods Order and the Customs Regulation (Prohibited and Restricted Goods) (Consolidation) Order[77], are applied mainly for the protection of human and animal health, human safety, public morals, and prevention of counterfeit. Since the previous Review, there has been no change to the products prohibited from importation (Table 3.8).
3.38.
Import permits and import licences are required for a range of products. Belize has not made any notifications under the WTO Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures, nor has it replied to the Questionnaire on Import Licensing Procedures.
3.39.
Belize has maintained its extensive and largely discretionary import licensing regime, which is based on: - the Supplies Control (Import/Export) Regulations and the Guidelines for the Approval of Supplies Control (Import/Export) Licences; - the Customs Regulation (Prohibited and Restricted Goods) (Consolidation) Order; and - the Prohibited Goods Order.
3.40.
Statutory Instrument No. 72 of 2012 amended the Supplies Control (Import/Export) (Amendment) Regulations, and introduced significant changes to the list of products with import licensing requirements (Table 3.9). The authorities indicated that half of the products with licensing requirements were removed from the list. From September 2012, goods requiring an import licence include: live animals, meat and edible offal, dairy produce, edible vegetables, certain roots and tubers, edible fruits, cereals, flour, oil seeds, sugar, beverage spirits and vinegar, prepared animal fodder, mineral fuels, oil and oil products, bituminous substances, mineral waxes, wood and wood articles.
3.41.
The Customs Regulation (Prohibited and Restricted Goods) (Consolidation) Order also lists some products with import licensing requirements, mainly for the purposes of national security, public health and safety, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and preservation of cultural heritage or the environment. Under the Prohibited Goods Order, licences are required for various dyestuffs produced or manufactured outside the Commonwealth (Table 3.10).
3.42.
According to online information of the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), licences are automatic for the importation of furniture in non-commercial quantities, and for "unique wooden articles" for the tourism industry. According to the authorities, most licences are automatic.
3.43.
Licences are granted by the Supplies Control Unit (SCU) of the Ministry of Economic Development, Petroleum, Investment, Trade and Commerce. There is no licensing fee or administrative charge. Licences are granted for each shipment and cannot be transferred between importers. Imports into export processing zones and free zones do not require a licence. Imports from CARICOM countries are generally exempt from import licences, except aerated beverages and beer from CARICOM MDCs. Import licences are granted automatically to Guatemala for products covered by the Partial Scope Agreement.
3.44.
The Supplies Control Unit introduced a virtual licence application system in 2015, which greatly reduced transaction costs, and improved efficiency and timeliness. The SCU is currently seeking to pilot a web interface platform to allow for the virtual communication between the SCU and ASYCUDA.
B. Export prohibitions and restrictions
3.75.
Since the previous Review, there has been no change to the list of products subject to export prohibitions or licensing requirements, which are regulated under the Customs Regulations (Prohibited and Restricted Goods) (Consolidation) Order, and the Supplies Control (Import/Export) Regulations.
3.76.
Products prohibited from exportation are: a. any infringing copy of a work, whether printed, audio, video or other, in which copyright subsists, or plates or other devices or means for making such infringing copies; b. arms and ammunition of all kinds; c. raw opium, cocoa leaf, Indian hemp (includes cannabis), prepared opium, poppy straw, mescaline and other dangerous drugs and psychotropic substances, as defined and prohibited in the Misuse of Drugs Act; and d. lumber of any dimensions produced from ziricote trees.
3.77.
Export products requiring a licence or permission include: scrap metals; antiques; apparatus or component parts for transmission by radio waves; currency, bank or other notes; fish, shrimps, lobster and other crustaceans, and all other marine products including corals; logs and lumber, medicinal dangerous drugs; wild animals; live animals (excluding pets); sugar; citrus fruits; and beans.[99] The authorities indicated their intention to review this list.
WTO's environmental database (EDB)
The EDB contains environment-related measures that may qualify as QRs and therefore should be notified under the QR Decision.