Jamaica is to continue to import rice from Guyana and officials from the island nation have no intention of importing extra regional rice at the expense of CARICOM and Guyana supplies.
This is according to a press release from the Ministry of Agriculture yesterday. The decision came after a meeting between officials of Guyana and Jamaica on Thursday after a tiff between the two countries over the importation of rice and Jamaica expressing the intention of importing from the United States.
The two countries have argued about rice in the past, with Jamaican officials accusing suppliers in Guyana of reducing sales to regular markets on finding higher prices elsewhere. Persaud had vowed to resort to CARICOM to block Jamaica’s bid to import rice from the United States.
On Thursday, Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud and Karl Samuda, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Investment in Jamaica and Michael Stern, Minister of State within the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Investment of Jamaica held a meeting to discuss the state of the Guyana-Jamaica rice export trade and in response to an earlier announcement by Minister Samuda that rice would be imported into Jamaica from Louisiana, USA.
“Minister Samuda after discussions reported that the information that was presented by Minister Persaud was contrary to what was communicated to him,” the release said.
The release said that Samuda also confirmed that the supply of rice from Guyana to Jamaica in 2007 was in excess of the 2006 amount. It said that the increase in demand for Guyana’s rice was due to a number of factors including the drop in the import level of paddy from the US to be milled in Jamaica.
The Minister welcomed the Jamaican Government’s understanding of the position of Guyana; its strong commitment to buying rice from Guyana and not importing rice from outside of the region including the United States.
The release said that the two ministers agreed to improve the lines of communication through regular reports from both sides to avoid miscommunication.
Minister Persaud also communicated that there are rice producers in Guyana who are interested in joint venture arrangements with the Jamaican investors which would assist in the securing of supplies for a growing market for Guyana’s rice in Jamaica and to promote value-added activities in Guyana, the release said.
Minister Stern will be visiting Guyana next week to familiarize himself with the rice industry in Guyana.
Minister Persaud said that the Jamaican market was a valuable one and Guyana is poised to increase its market share. Already, Guyana has supplied 25 per cent more rice to Jamaica for 2007 compared with the corresponding period for 2005 and 2006.
He stated that the projected production for the second crop is approximately 141,000 tonnes and that there will be enough rice to meet market commitments. The projected distribution is as follows: export to EU – 40,000 tonnes; local consumption – 30,000; feed – 10,000; available to CARICOM – 60,000.
The release said that both Ministers on Thursday met with importers of rice, where they held candid discussions on some challenges facing the Guyana-Jamaica rice trade and a number of recommendations were put forward in terms of trading arrangements.
According to the release, Persaud gave the assurance that the kinks in trading arrangements will be addressed and directed the General Manager of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) to follow up these issues so that they can be resolved early.
