The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, has reaffirmed its commitment to food safety as it ramps up efforts to increase exports.
“Food safety is everybody’s business. It will take our collective efforts to ensure that the highest standards of safety and quality are synonymous with Jamaican agricultural exports.
“This will help us to continue to bolster our position on the global market and to uphold the reputation that Jamaica produces safe, healthy products of the highest quality,” Portfolio Minister, Floyd Green said.
He was delivering remarks at the opening session of the Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ)/United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Summit on the Produce Safety Rule, Food Security and Agribusiness Council, held at the AC Hotel by Marriott in Kingston on September 26.
“We continue to work to ensure that safe food production begins on the farm. We recognise the pivotal role we play by employing good manufacturing practices at our packaging facilities,” Green said, noting that of the 113 active packaging houses across the island, 64 are operating above standard.
He said Jamaica’s agricultural produce are in high demand across the world, and the US is one of the country’s major export markets.
“In fact, it accounts for 52 per cent of the total volume exported annually,” Mr. Green said, noting that under the Jamaica PreClearance Programme initiated in 1984, the country has exported more than 50 horticultural commodities to the US, with yam, breadfruit and hot pepper topping the list for decades.
Over the past two years, Jamaica exported an average of 40 million kilograms of fresh agricultural produce to the US valued at US$40 million.
Source: JIS