By Entorno | 2025-08-19

Belize has secured approval to export shrimp to Taiwan, filling a gap left by Honduras, which severed diplomatic ties with Taipei in March 2023.

The move strengthens economic cooperation between Belize and Taiwan while offering a lifeline to Belize's aquaculture industry.

Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration confirmed that 12 Belizean farms met its regulatory standards following a two-year process of inspections and technical collaboration. The approval comes at a crucial moment for Taiwan, which consumes about 30,000 tons of white-leg shrimp annually but produces far less than demand.

Until March 2023, Honduras supplied much of that shortfall, sending up to 40% of its shrimp exports to Taiwan.

However, trade collapsed after Tegucigalpa recognized Beijing, with Honduran exports plunging 67% and more than 14,000 jobs lost, according to data cited by a Radio America report in April.

According to the report, Honduran Foreign Minister Enrique Reina admitted on March 31 that the government hoped to re-enter the Taiwanese market or expand to South Korea to save the struggling industry.

Belize has now stepped into that space. The government announced the approval in late July, during a visit to Taiwan by a Belizean delegation for the Second Meeting of the Administrative Commission under the Belize–Taiwan Economic Cooperation Agreement.

Natalie Gibson, acting director for food safety at the Belize Agricultural Health Authority, said the shrimp deal was built on years of cooperation with Taipei.

Deepening trade ties

"We have been exporting lobster, historically, to Taiwan, so this is an effort to expand the scope of products that we can export," she told reporters in early August.

Taiwan's foreign minister, Lin Chia-lung, played a central role in the approval process. During his visit to Belize in October 2024, he met with Francis Fonseca, his counterpart in Belize, and toured local shrimp farms alongside Taiwanese regulators.

Lin later pushed for a cross-agency task force in Taipei to speed up the process, according to Taiwan's Foreign Ministry.

The ministry framed the agreement as part of the "Diplomatic Allies Prosperity Project," a strategy to deepen trade ties with Taiwan's remaining diplomatic partners. Officials said the deal would "boost mutual trade" while securing Taiwan's seafood supply.

For Belize, the breakthrough offers access to a market that imported an average of $349 million in shrimp annually between 2020 and 2024. Producers expect the approval to drive investment, expand operations and improve resilience in an industry that has weathered disease outbreaks and volatile prices.

With Honduras shut out of Taiwan's market, Belize's shrimp producers are now positioned to become a key supplier to one of Asia's highest-value importers, and one of its most loyal diplomatic partners.