Regional poultry producers have expressed concern at the non-adoption of specifications for their meat and feeds which had been developed by the standards body, CROSQ and approved.
At a meeting on Monday, CARICOM officials heard members of the CARICOM Poultry Association (CPA) say that they had been in dialogue with the United States Department of Agriculture for these standards devised by the CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ) to be met on products exported to the region. To ensure that goods of the highest quality are circulating in CARICOM, the CPA is emphasising labelling of poultry and poultry products with the date of slaughter so that sub-standard products do not enter the Region.
A release from the CARICOM Secretariat yesterday said that the CPA representatives told the Secretariat team that poultry producers were making inroads in the fast-growing area of value-added offerings such as pre-seasoned, ready-to-cook, and fully-cooked products. In this regard, the Association identified jerk, curried and other regional indigenous seasoned meat as its greatest potential for export.