THE RECENT outcry from producers and suppliers of chicken parts of unfair and illegal competition seems to have been supported by information to the Ministry of Agriculture from American exporters.
It now appears that for every permit granted by the ministry for the importation of just over eight million kilograms of chicken necks and backs, the same amount of leg quarters has been imported in their stead. This suggests a highly sophisticated and organised fraud among several players.
It is good that the ministry is on to these surreptitious attempts to undercut local production but it is also important that this fraud be followed through to the point of arrest and conviction and imposition of fines as stipulated under the law.
It is unlikely that all the imported leg quarters would be going to one or just a few importers, but eight million kilograms of leg
quarters is still a lot of chicken parts and therefore not easily hidden. So, while the trail may be difficult to follow it is still not impossible to determine where they are going. The cooperation of the American authorities should be sought to determine to whom the United States-based exporters sold the meat.
The spotlight should also be shone on the retailers who are conduits for the illegally-imported material. If they believe local chicken parts are unfairly priced or that a case should be made for allowing imported goods, then they should lobby the particular government agencies to change the current policies. If local producers are unable to supply the demand, the Government can be pressed to grant permits to make up the shortfall but not to the extent of undermining local production.
The deception of the illegal imports also carries other disturbing implications. If eight million kilograms of packaged leg quarters can be imported labelled as something else, what other illegal contraband are being imported falsely labelled? It is bad enough when local manufacturers and producers are unable to compete with legally-imported goods because of inefficiencies. How much worse when they have to compete with the illegal stuff for which no duties would have been paid.
Jamaica's poultry industry has been one of the local success stories over the years despite persistent efforts to make in-roads. This is because chicken remains one of the cheapest and most popular sources of protein locally. Millions of dollars have been invested in infrastructure in developing local plants; thousands of farmers are dependent on the continued success of the sector; and there is general consensus that the quality of the local product is excellent. So there is every good reason to support the industry's continued viability. It should be protected, not from healthy competition, but from those who would seek to bypass legitimate means of getting to the local market.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
