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Frozen Foods International News
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| Politics and Tilapia |
The Jamaican Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MOAF) has
exercised its rights under World Trade Organization rules to
suspend imports of cheap tilapia from South East Asia, over
concerns that imports have not been meeting sanitary and
phyto-sanitary standards.
Dr. Marc Panton, chief technical director in the MOAF, said the
action was based on international reports received by his
ministry, which is also moving aggressively to reinstate the
once-vibrant tilapia sector, which was wiped out by the cheaper
imports. An Aquaculture Fish Monitoring Committee has been
created by the ministry for the revival of aquaculture and to
calibrate supply and demand, he said.
"We were the largest producer of tilapia in the Caribbean but,
due to a liberal trade policy, productive capacity was wiped out.
We have the capacity to produce and we want to bring it back."
Revealing that commitment for the purchase of 30,000 kilograms
monthly had already been received from Burger King and KFC,
Panton said the ministry was in talks with local producers who
had asked for the additional commitment that their investments
not be wiped out by another about-face in import policy.
The fast-food sector was previously a strong market for Jamaican
tilapia, but lost a big source of supply when Jamaica Broilers
Group gave up local markets in favor of exports in the last
decade, resulting in a downgrading of fish on several menu boards
for a while. The poultry group, however, lost big on fish
overseas sales and withdrew from the tilapia export market in 2008.
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| 28-May-10 |
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