ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC) – Antigua and Barbuda says it has reached an agreement with Guyana to collaborate on a new food import initiative aimed at reducing cost of living by securing cheaper fruits, vegetables, and other produce for the local market.

“The aim is to secure cheaper fruits and vegetables and other food items at a cheaper rate. We should see some further reduction in prices once this strategy is implemented,” said Antigua’s director general of communications, Maurice Merchant, adding that the Cabinet has instructed Agriculture Minister Anthony Smith Jr to coordinate with his Guyanese counterpart to facilitate the arrangement.

Merchant said that this follows discussions between the country’s prime minister, Gaston Browne, and Guyana’s president Irfaan Ali during the ongoing COP30 conference in Brazil.

Cabinet at its weekly meeting also said it took the decision to reduce the Common External Tariff (CET) on essential food items such as fresh produce, canned proteins, and infant foods.

The statement issued after the Cabinet meeting noted that in July 2025, the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) approved Antigua and Barbuda’s request to suspend the CET on a range of basic food commodities, allowing for a zero per cent duty rate from July 1,2025 to 30 June 2026.

“This measure is intended to cushion the impact of rising global food prices and ensure that Antiguan and Barbudan households continue to have access to affordable staple foods,” the statement said.

Nearly 90 per cent of Antigua and Barbuda’s imported foods currently come from North America, a dependence that has made local prices vulnerable to global market shifts. The Guyana agreement, officials said, is designed to diversify supply sources within Caricom while ensuring that consumers benefit directly from lower import costs.

Cabinet officials anticipate that once logistics and trade arrangements are finalised, the first shipments from Guyana could help ease prices on supermarket shelves in early 2026.

The partnership is also seen as a step toward achieving Caricom’s 25 by 2025 goa, a regional target to cut food import bills by 25 per cent and to build closer agricultural ties within the 15 member regional integration grouping.

Meanwhile, the government has announced plans to introduce legislation next year aimed at curbing the consumption of sugary drinks as part of a wider strategy to promote healthy living and reduce diet-related illnesses.

“Government is not only on a drive to reduce prices but also to ensure that we develop in our people the need to eat healthy. Sugar is the demon of all foods,” Merchant said, adding that the legislation on sugary drinks “should go to Parliament in the first quarter of next year.”

He said that the measure will form part of a broader health policy framework that complements recent food price interventions and seeks to shift consumer behaviour toward better dietary choices.

While details of the proposed bill have not yet been released, Merchant said the government intends to go beyond existing Caricom health commitments by taking proactive steps to address non-communicable diseases linked to sugar consumption.