THE EDITOR, Sir:
I WRITE to express on behalf of the membership of the Jamaica Dairy Farmers Federation and the wider fraternity of Jamaican milk producers, our serious concern regarding the Jamaican Government's approval of the acceptance of a gift of 4,500 metric tons of skimmed milk powder from USDA by Food for the Poor (refer The Gleaner, 26 August 2003).
We need hardly remind you of the precipitous decline in the market for fresh milk, which over the past decade fell from 38.8 million litres to 20.4 million litres. This was largely the result of the entry in Jamaica of highly subsidised milk powder, which literally knocked local milk off a clear growth path, which saw production increase from 20.4 million litres in 1986 to the 1992 level of 38.8 million litres. The case against dumped whole milk powder made by local farmers, was upheld by the then Government-appointed Anti-Dumping Committee, which in 1995 recommended the imposition of a countervailing duty of 137.5 per cent.
That this road was not taken can be directly attributed to the continuing precipitous decline in the fortunes of local dairy farmers.
For the Government of Jamaica to be now associated with a three-year programme of 'free milk' of which the Jamaican School Feeding Programme will be a major beneficiary, is to literally drive the final nail in the coffin of the local dairy farming sector. While with dumped milk products, the local farmer retained a hope to eventually compete, a 'free food' policy denies him of any such opportunity.
By way of amplification, 4,500 metric tons of milk powder is equivalent to 49.5 million litres of fluid milk. From another perspective, it represents 53.8 per cent of the average level of imports of milk powder (whole and skimmed) for the past three years. The formal import sector is also threatened if we assume that this gigantic gift will not be monazite in contravention of the conditions laid down by the donors.
The case of the Dominican Republic, is instructive. As part of their policy for revitalising their domestic agriculture, the Government of the Dominican Republic, five years ago placed a ban on the acceptance of international food aid. Along with other policy measures, this has resulted in a three-fold increase in milk production to a current level of above 350 million litres per annum. Their own School Milk Programme was used as a primary catalyst, absorbing a significant proportion of this increase.
I am, etc.,
AUBREY TAYLOR
Chairman
Jamaica Dairy Farmers Federation Ltd
