Web Posted - Wed Jun 23 2004

R. L. Seale & Company Limited’s Foursquare Rum Distillery has become the first rum producer in Barbados to be certified under the internationally recognized quality management system known as ISO 9001:2000.
In addition, the Foursquare Bottled Water Plant has been certified under HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points), another internationally accepted programme designed to assure consumers about the safety of packaged food and beverages. It is the first bottling plant in the Caribbean to have been so certified.

R.L. Seale’s chairman, Sir David Seale, says certification under ISO 9001:2000 and HACCP will enhance the company’s ability to penetrate markets in countries that are setting tough standards for imported goods in order to protect their consumers.

“If you want to sell into the major markets such as the US, the UK and Canada, you have to be able to give your business partners and distributors the confidence that they are dealing with a professionally run operation, one that can meet internationally accepted standards in quality management,” he says. “On top of that, you have to able to demonstrate to the regulators that your products are safe for consumers”.

In addition to other award-winning rum brands, the distillery produces Foursquare Spiced Rum, rated the number one spiced rum in the world, while the bottling plant produces the Silver Spring and Bowmanston brands of mineral water. The certification processes were part of an initiative sponsored by the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation to help Barbadian manufacturers improve their competitiveness.

Sir David says that compliance with such international standards has become a “business imperative” for Barbadian manufacturers who are serious about competing overseas as well as in the local market.

“It is so important to be able to offer that additional confidence and sense of safety to consumers,” he says. “The BIDC provided us with an opportunity to certify that we are running a world-class operation, and we are very grateful.”

Compliments of the Barbados Advocate

- Monday 31, May-2004 by Albert Brandford

GOVERNMENT is proposing to guarantee a Bds$60 million bond issue to meet the out-of-crop capital expenses of the sugar industry from 2003 up to the end of next year.

Parliament’s approval will be sought when the House of Assembly meets tomorrow of the bond issue by the state-run Barbados Agricultural Management Co. Ltd. (BAMC) to be floated by banks here and in Trinidad and Tobago.

The money raised will be used to finance BAMC’s capital requirements during the out-of-crop periods for the years 2003 to 2005.

The larger sum of $40 million will be borrowed through Citicorp Merchant Bank Limited, part of the global financial services company, Citigroup, which has a marketing branch here (set up in 2000), but whose regional operations are based in Trinidad and Tobago.

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The other $20 million will be borrowed from the Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (RBTT).

The Citicorp loan will have a 12-year tenure, with interest at 5.40 per cent payable annually, beginning one year after disbursement, while the RBTT loan covers a ten-year period at an interest rate of 5.75 per cent.

Some differences appear in the respective terms and conditions: legal expenses for the $40 million loan will be payable by Citicorp, but there is no indication in the resolution as to who will meet those for the RBTT loan.

In addition, the principal repayment for the RBTT loan will be in the form of a “bullet” payment at the end of year 10, while the terms for the Citigroup loan call for annual payment at the end of each year commencing one year after disbursement.

Compliments of the Nation News

BARBADOS