John Myers Jr., Agriculture Coordinator

Cattle grazing on the 330-acre Grier House Farm in Moneague, St. Ann, on Saturday, September 2, 2006. - Roger Robinson/Freelance Photographer

The Beef and Dairy Producers Association of Jamaica (BDPAJ) is probing what it said was unusually cheap beef burger meat being imported into the island.

Balteano Duffus, general secretary of the BDPAJ, told Farmers Weekly that it was seeking more information on the imports as based on the price reflected on the invoice of the beef burger meat imported from Costa Rica and the price that is being reportedly paid by local processors for the meat, there appears to be a discrepancy between the actual price paid for the product by the importer in Costa Rica and what is reflected on the invoice submitted to the Customs Department in Jamaica.

"What the association is doing is trying to verify the authenticity of those prices," he said. "At this point, it raises concern which would lead us to investigate the matter more deeply," Mr. Duffus added. He noted that the BDPAJ has chosen this method as it did not want to make wild accusations without first obtaining the facts.

In a release issued to the media this week the BDPAJ said its members had reported that they were experiencing difficulties selling their meat on the local market due to an influx of cheap beef burger meat from Central America.

Imported beef

The general secretary of the BDPAJ was quoted in the release as saying that "Our association is unaware of, and in fact would strongly oppose the granting of any waiver or concession on duties on imported beef from any country, including Costa Rica, from where we understand that the beef burger meat in question has been imported."

He added that while the BDPAJ was supportive of beef importation to satisfy the shortfall in demand on the local market, the association would not support the destruction of the local beef sub-sector.

The issue has been raised on the heels of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands reporting a recovery of the beef and dairy sub-sectors, which had been on the decline in recent years due mainly to competition from cheap imports.

"We now see an upturn, there is a revival in the dairy sector, prices have gone up, there is almost equality between the cost of production and what the farmer is earning at the farm gate. There has been an obvious increase in the price of cattle in the beef sector," Jasmin Holness, the deputy director of research in the ministry, said in a recent interview with JIS News.

A study done on the livestock sector in 2005 found that the number of cattle on the island had decreased from 144,750 heads in 1990 to about 66,500 heads in 2005, an almost 50 per cent decline over the period.

Both sub-sectors employ an estimated 7,800 persons in rural communities and contribute approximately $5 billion to the country's GDP, based on 2003 figures.