Article Archive

December 18 (JIS): Plans are under way to expand the country’s animal tagging programme to include small ruminants. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith, provided an update on the National Animal Identification and Traceability System while piloting the Agricultural Produce (Amendment) Act, 2023 in the Senate, recently. As a means of combatting praedial larceny, the Government implemented measures to monitor activities in Jamaica’s livestock industry through the National Animal Identification and Traceability System (NAITS). The NAITS is an...

December 17 (JIS): The Agricultural Produce (Amendment) Act, which will facilitate the imposition of harsher penalties for praedial larceny, was passed in the Senate on Friday (December 15). The maximum fine for breaches under the law will now move from $250,000 or three months in prison, to $3million or three years in prison. In piloting the legislation, Leader of Government Business in the Senate and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith said the amendments seeks to expand the initiatives of the Government to stamp out the scourge of...

December 8 (JIS): Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), Winston Simpson, has cited several factors that may impact supplies and prices leading up to the Christmas season. These include seeds not germinating because of the excessive heat, lack of labour, and supply-chain issues being faced based on the slow movement of goods coming through the Panama Canal. Speaking at a JIS Think Tank, today (December 7), Mr. Simpson said although the Authority anticipates a good Christmas season for the agricultural sector, there were challenges during the...