Hylton
MINISTER OF Foreign Trade Anthony Hylton is to lead a delegation of private and public sector representatives to Guyana within the next four weeks to discuss the rice issue between the two countries.
The announcement was made yesterday at a press conference at the ministry, New Kingston. It was jointly called by Jamaica's Ministry of Foreign Trade and by Guyana's Minister of Trade, Tourism and Industry, Geoffery DaSilva, who signed a trade and investment enhancement agreement.
The Guyanese delegation which includes several of the country's top rice millers, had been meeting in Kingston since Tuesday. They met with representatives of local milling company Grains Jamaica Ltd. as well as Government officials.
The Guyanese say they are concerned that Jamaica has not been importing agreed amounts of rice from Guyana. On Wednesday they met with Minor Taylor, of Grains Jamaica Ltd., who said the Guyanese would need to address issues of quality, supply and price before the situation could be changed.
At yesterday's press conference Mr. Hylton underscored the importance of trade to the economies of both countries and said both sides recognised the necessity of putting in place concrete measures that could lead to the improvement of rice trade between the two countries.
Mr. DaSilva dissociated his government from allegations made last week by some Guyana business interests that Jamaica was defaulting on its commitment to purchase a certain amount of rice from Guyana. The Guyanese had accused Jamaica of importing a large volume of duty- free rice from the US under the PL 480 programme.
Mr. Hylton emphasised that both Guyana and Jamaica recognised the importance of ensuring that local consumers continue to receive regular and uninterrupted supplies of rice at a "reasonable price". He added that Jamaica would review its participation in the U.S. PL 480 Programme which included rice imports.
Representatives of the Food Storage and Prevention of Infestation Division of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Technology and the Jamaica Bureau of Standards will send representatives to observe rice operations in Guyana within the next two weeks.
