By Erica James-King, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
A BREAKTHROUGH in the brown sugar crisis crippling the baking industry came yesterday with Jamaica Cane Products Sales (JCPS) being given the documentation needed to clear a shipment from Colombia which had been languishing on the Kingston port for two weeks.
The CARICOM Secretariat in Guyana and Jamaica's Finance Ministry have given the green light for the shipment of 2,800 tonnes of brown sugar to be cleared. JCPS says it is trying to wrap up the clearance process with the Customs Department.
"This morning, the Ministry of Finance gave us the approved documents and late yesterday CARICOM gave us the permit we needed to get a waiver in clearing the sugar shipment," said Karl James, General Manager of JCPS, in an interview with The Gleaner yesterday. "We hope that we can start clearing the shipment by tomorrow."
But, bakers and retailers of sugar have another few days to wait before the shipment reaches them. "If we get a chance to clear the shipment over the weekend, then by Monday, we should be able to get the sugar to the bakers and others who need the supplies. But, if it is not cleared before Monday, it's hardly likely rural areas would get the supplies before Tuesday."
Mr. James lamented the bureaucratic glitches that have caused undue delays in clearing the sugar shipment that arrived at the Kingston port on September 6. At the heart of the problem is the fact that Guyana is not able to supply high demands from Jamaica at this time and the JCPS had to turn outside the region for help.
40 PER CENT DUTY
However, there is a 40 per cent duty or Common External Tariff (CET) on products imported from outside the region, once other territories in CARICOM are producing similar products. To get relief from the CET, a document from the regional supplier (which in this case is Guyana) has to state that it is unable to supply Jamaica with the commodity. That document has to go to CARICOM, so that CARICOM can grant the JCPS a permit for the waiver.
Noting that JCPS "gave itself enough lead time before the shipment came in to try and deal with the documentation required," Mr. James questioned why such a sluggish process prevailed with regard to imports, if countries in the region are serious about a Caribbean Single Market and Economy.
