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DE RUEHWN #0073/01 0352156
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 042156Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7065
INFO RUEHDG/AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO 5963
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC

UNCLAS BRIDGETOWN 000073 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
EB/CBA FOR DENNIS WINSTEAD 
SANTO DOMINGO FOR FCS 
USDA FOR FAS/OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNICAL AFFAIRS 
USDA FOR FAS/CBATO MIAMI 
WHA/CAR FOR JONATHAN MITCHELL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD OECS EINV ECON XL
SUBJECT: GOB INFORMALLY POSTPONING IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW 
LABELING REQUIREMENTS FOR IMPORTED FOOD ITEMS 
 
¶1. SUMMARY (SBU) In a January 29 meeting arranged by the 
Embassy at the request of San Diego-based PriceSmart, a 
warehouse-style shopping club, Director of Barbados' 
Consumers Affairs Department (DCCA) Terry Bascombe assured 
PriceSmart executives and econoffs that the GOB would not 
follow through on threats to stringently implement new 
labeling standards for pre-packaged products starting March 
¶1.  Instead, Bascombe said, the GOB wanted to work with 
importers to come up with an alternative system to allow for 
re-labeling of non-compliant products in-country.  PriceSmart 
offered to work with the GOB to come up with a workable plan 
on the basis of a successful similar project they recently 
implemented in Jamaica, and Bascombe and his staff were 
appreciative and interested in following up.  End Summary. 
 
------------------- 
BIRTH OF A BAD IDEA 
------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  In a well-meaning attempt to comply with Codex 
Alimentarius standards, the GOB in 2004 enacted a law that 
established mandatory labeling requirements for all 
prepackaged food sold in Barbados.  The Barbados National 
Standards Institute (BNSI) was charged with developing the 
technical standards, which were put on the books but never 
enforced.  The previous government announced that they would 
implement the standards and gave companies until December 31, 
2007 to comply.  The current government, upon taking power, 
extended the deadline until December 31, 2008 and re-extended 
to February 28, 2009, which was advertised as the final 
deadline for full compliance.  DCCA sent out several notices 
alerting the importer community of the impending changes, but 
few local companies took the notices seriously, and few U.S. 
exporters took much notice until the last letter.  Receipt of 
the final, strongly worded letter, fully energized local 
companies and U.S. importers, including PriceSmart, which had 
been informally lobbying the government since July, 2008 to 
extend the deadline yet again.  Despite the last-minute 
outcry, DCCA and BNSI publicly insisted that the deadline for 
compliance was final. 
 
------------- 
NEW STANDARDS 
------------- 
 
¶3. (U) The standards (Barbados National Standards, 5: Part 2: 
2004, Labeling of Prepackaged Foods) requires, inter alia, 
that all prepackaged foods, both imported and domestically 
produced, have a label that contains the country of origin, 
"manufactured by" date, and an expiry date. The act states, 
 
"These dates shall consist of at least 
 
a) the day and the month for products produced for 
consumption within a period of not more than three (3) months; 
 
b) the month and the year for products produced for 
consumption within a period of longer than three (3) months, 
 
In each case, the month shall be declared using the first 
three letters of the word (e.g. JAN, FEB etc. where the year 
is declared, the complete 4 digit representation shall be 
used." 
 
---------------------------------- 
BNSI TOWN HALL MEETING FANS FLAMES 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU)  BNSI, having heard that local importers were 
complaining to the DCCA and to other politicians, held a town 
hall meeting February 27th for the food distribution 
companies to explain the rationale behind the new standards 
and explain technicalities.  BNSI's chief technical officer 
pointed out that EU producers were already meeting the 
standards, and reminded importers that any product not 
meeting these standards would be denied entry as of the 
implementation date.  He also noted that importers would no 
longer be allowed to re-label the product to bring the 
product into conformity with the standard.  He explained that 
the new stringency was a simple case of consumer protection, 
pointing out that there were cases of local companies 
 
mislabeling products, often maliciously, to "extend" expiry 
dates.  He also noted that companies had had almost four 
years to become compliant.  Noting that "BNSI just wrote the 
standards," he suggested that companies having a problem seek 
individual waivers from the Minister. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The reaction from importers and local producers 
alike was predictable.  They pointed out that Barbados 
imports 90 percent of its food, with the U.S. supplying 60 
percent of the total prepackaged food market.  Most US food 
manufacturers, they pointed out, are domestically focused. 
Exports to Barbados are a microscopic part of their business, 
and U.S. multinationals would not likely bother to re-tool 
their labeling machinery to satisfy the new requirement. 
Importers reported that many US exporters, having heard of 
the new regulations, said they would simply stop shipping 
product to Barbados.  In some cases, exporters have already 
stopped shipment of product as it can take more than a week 
to reach the island.  Local producers and importers of 
regionally-made goods similarly complained that labeling 
procedures would not be able to be changed just to satisfy 
the Barbados market.  Many importers pointed out that if the 
requirements were enforced, Barbados would lose 60 percent of 
its available food products overnight, that food costs would 
rise due to increased transportation charges and exchange 
rate problems for goods sourced from the EU, and many 
companies would as a result have to lay off workers. 
 
----------------------------- 
DCCA SEARCHING FOR COMPROMISE 
----------------------------- 
 
6) (SBU) With the Embassy's assistance, PriceSmart 
executives, including their chief compliance officer, met 
with Terry Bascombe, Director of the Department of Commerce 
and Consumer Affairs on January 29 to discuss alternative 
solutions.  Bascombe assured us that Commerce Minister David 
Estwick did not feel obliged to formally enforce the 
standards on February 28, as that decision had been made 
under the previous government.  The letter was sent out as a 
wake up call to let the importers know that the GOB was 
serious about enforcing the law.  He said it worked: he had 
received hundreds of calls and e-mails protesting the new 
regulations.  He also noted that the Minister and others were 
well aware of the implications if the requirements were to be 
enforced.  No one, he said, relished the thought of food 
shortages, price hikes, and layoffs at the front end of a 
global recession.  He said his Minister wanted to ensure that 
a workable plan would be put in place in consultation with 
the local and international business community, but stressed 
that the regulations would be enforced, and that the 
extension was an informal extension until such time that an 
alternative plan is put into place.  (Comment: The GOB does 
not provide information on mandatory standards free to the 
public; one has to write to them and order paper copies for a 
fee.  Bascombe said they are considering putting them on 
their web site, but are worried about others downloading the 
standards and selling them.  Not surprisingly, few companies 
as a result have ever seen the standards or even knew until 
very recently that the GOB expected them to follow these 
standards.  End comment.) 
 
¶7. (SBU) At the meeting, PriceSmart offered to serve as a 
partner in helping craft an alternative compliance system on 
the basis of their experience with a similar situation in 
Jamaica.  They provided copies of their training and 
inspection manuals (all proprietary information) and offered 
to work with the GOB to establish a regulatory system that 
fit their needs and that the GOB could propose as its own -- 
rather than one adopted from an outside source. Mr. Bascombe 
and his staff were optimistic that such a program could work 
in Barbados and agreed to continue talks with an eye to 
having a GOB-"owned" draft system as a starting point for 
discussions with importers and consumer advocates to develop 
a workable alternative to the "all or nothing" approach on 
the books at present. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) The chief technical inspector told poloffs that they 
had heard that the USG would be imposing new labeling rules 
that would require companies to use the CODEX standards in 
their food labeling and would also make food labeling 
mandatory.  Econoff promised to follow up with FDA to see the 
status of any such proposal.  They stressed that, if the US 
were going to adopt such standards soon, the GOB could delay 
implementation of their standards until US exporters were in 
full compliance with the new standards.  They also said that 
they would not enforce the requirement for a "manufactured 
on" date as they knew that few companies include that in 
their labels.  Post remains confident that a common sense 
solution will be achieved as the GOB is not prepared to 
withstand the public criticism, and serious economic and 
political consequences, if they imposed these regulations 
without a work-around. 
HARDT