Rural Belize Businesses to Come Under New Trade License System

Businesses in Belize’s villages and rural communities will soon be required to operate under a formal trade licensing system as the Trade License Act No. 19 of 2024 comes into effect.  The Ministry of Rural Transformation, Community Development and Local Government has informed village councils that the management and administrative provisions of the legislation are scheduled to take effect on August 31.  The new regime will, for the first time, bring businesses operating in rural areas under a structured trade licensing mechanism. Once the Commencement Order is gazette, the Ministry will begin establishing the systems needed to roll out licensing for the 2027 trade licensing year, which starts on January 1.  As preparations advance, village councils are being encouraged to work closely with Rural Community Development Officers and Second-Class Clerks assigned to district offices. The Ministry says the coordination will help ensure that councils, rural businesses and government agencies are prepared for the transition and can address potential challenges ahead of implementation.  This move has been in the making for several years now as Minister Oscar Requena had provided details back in October 2023 in the House of Representatives where he said that consultations were held prior.

Oscar Requena, Minister of Rural Transformation: “The trade license reform is a reform we promised under Plan Belize. Our goal for the trade license reform is two fold. A to strengthen village governance. B, to facilitate economic growth by improving the ease of doing business in both urban and rural areas. We are going to strengthen village governance by providing village councils with adequate resources to provide proper services to their communities. The fees collected from trade license will go directly to rural communities. It will not go to the central government. Many villages have a lot of businesses and these businesses are demanding better services from their councils. They want better streets, drainage, garbage collection and so on and residents are demanding for the same thing including better upkeep of their community assets such as parks and play grounds. The monies collected from the fees will go directly to addressing these needs. There is going to be a proper accounting system that will be set up and monitored within village councils. We already have examples of villages councils operating with improved accounting systems. These will be expanded to account for monies received under this new change. Rural communities are growing and at this time they have not had adequate resources to provide services to their residents. Businesses in urban areas have been clamoring for changes in the way they are assessed and paid their trade license fees. This reform brings significant improvements, the changes have been discussed with multiple stakeholders in long consultation sessions. Some of the key changes are. Madam Speaker, fees will now be assessed every three years instead of every year as is currently done now. This creates efficiency and predictability for both the business and the councils. There is a 10% ceiling and flooring against the assessed fee fro existing and new businesses. This is to prevent excessive charges for existing and new businesses and also to prevent councils from losing much needed revenue. Fees will be determined according to an established formula and will only used the productive footprint where business transactions are  conducted. This will create much needed predictability that businesses want.”

All village chairpersons have since been notified by the Director of Rural Development, Charles Galvez.