Illegal pork imports suspected, agriculture ministry moves to protect industry
Published:Thursday | September 12, 2024 | 12:05 AMLuke Douglas/ - Senior Business Reporter
The Ministry of Agriculture is taking steps to prevent the illegal importation of pork products into the island, although there has been no confirmation that the popular meat has been coming into the country without a permit.
Agriculture Minister Floyd Green said he order a probe and for changes to be made, following complaints from stakeholders of a downturn in demand for pork earlier this year.
“We recognised some challenges in the pork industry in terms of downturn in demand. We started to engage our stakeholders to find out what could have caused that,” Minister Green told the Financial Gleaner yesterday.
“Having heard from a number of our pork farmers, including those in the Jamaica Pig Farmers Association, it does appear that there was some illegal entry of fresh pork,” said Green.
“But we have not located the source of the illegal entry,” he said, when asked to comment on complaints by JPFA President Hanif Brown that the demand for pork fell between March and June this year, leading to pig farmers theorising that some cuts of the meat were entering the country illegally.
“In the early part of 2024, we saw what we would consider a slowdown in the take-off of pork from the farmers. When we investigated, we realised that there was some interference with the supply side of the market,” Brown said in an interview with the Financial Gleaner. “It appeared at the time that there was some amount of illegal importation taking place by unscrupulous importers.”
Although Jamaica is almost self-sufficient in pork, some importers of other meats are bringing in fresh pork and pork products illegally in containers with the meats that they have permits to import, Brown claimed.
However, he was unable to back up his claim with specific data, but commended Jamaica Customs Agency for its efforts to stamp out the illegal practice.
“It is not easy to inspect all frozen imports, but in recent times we have been working closely with Jamaica Customs, and they have been doing tremendous work in trying to get importers to stick to the permits, which were granted for bringing in only that which is allowed.”
“The importation of pork carcasses and cuts are illegal in this country without a permit being granted by the Ministry of Agriculture. To my knowledge, over the past eight years no such permit has been issued,” he said.
Minister Green said a series of meetings were held with Jamaica Customs, the JPFA and other stakeholders to address the matter.
“I have asked a team at the ministry to start an engagement process,” Green said.
“I know they have started to put in place steps to identify and to cauterise any illegal flow,” he added.
The minister also confirmed that no permits had been granted for the importation of fresh pork.
Meanwhile, the JPFA has embarked on a campaign to increase the consumption of pork locally, saying Jamaica has the lowest per capita consumption of pork in the region.
According to helgilibrary.com, data from the Food and Agriculture Organization shows that Jamaicans consumed 3.24 kilogrammes of pork meat per capita in 2019, compared with 30.4 kg in the United States, 7.37 kg in Trinidad & Tobago, 22.6 kg in Cuba, and 10.8 kg in Dominican Republic.
Brown says some Jamaicans do not eat pork for religious and cultural reasons, but some view the meat as unhealthy and unclean. He said, however, that vast improvements have been made in how pigs are reared today, compared to years past, and that creative chefs have made improvements on how the meat is prepared.
“The pork of today is very different from the pork of 20 years ago, in terms of the diet we feed our pigs and the genetics available that creates a pork carcass that has less saturated fat. We encourage consumers to know the various cuts. Research shows that pork tenderloin, for example, is low in saturated fat, high in protein, and has high nutritional value,” the JFPA president said.
Brown added that the latest survey shows that 25,000 persons are employed throughout the industry, inclusive of farmers, meat processors and feed company workers.
More than 12 million kilogrammes of pork were produced in Jamaica last year, with only a small amount of pork bellies and special cuts being imported for bacon and sausage processing.
The JPFA has about 3,000 active members, coming from a high of 6,000. About 85 per cent of them are small farmers who rear 50 or fewer pigs.