Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Hon. Karl Samuda, looks at equipment at the Sugar Industry Research Institute (SIRI) in Mandeville, which was donated by the European Union. Occasion was the opening of the Sugar Industry Authority’s (SIA) inaugural post-crop seminar at SIRI on September 21, 2016.
The Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ) is to create a standard to effectively protect the local sugar industry from illegally imported sugar.
This disclosure was made by Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Hon. Karl Samuda, at the opening of a two-day Sugar Industry Authority (SIA) seminar and exposition in Mandeville on September 21.
Mr. Samuda said the measure is necessary for the protection of the sugar industry, as imported sugar, sometimes from unknown sources, has made its way on to supermarket shelves across the island.
He noted that persons are making “hefty profits” from this practice.
The Minister warned that persons who fail to conform to the established standard, will be heavily fined.
“Any bag of sugar that does not carry the stamp of the Bureau of Standards will be seized and a fine will be imposed that will make them remember the offence,” Mr. Samuda said.
Meanwhile, manager of the Standards Development and Certification Department of the BSJ, Karen Watson-Brown, said the intention is to establish safeguards to advance the sugar industry.
“When you have the BSJ mark of quality, because of what is required, audits are conducted, so it means the manufacturer or processor would have to be doing their operations in accordance with documented procedures,” she pointed out.
The seminar, under the theme ‘Repositioning the Sugar-cane Industry’, was aimed at reviewing the outcome of the 2015/2016 sugar-cane crop and formulating strategies to reposition the sugar-cane industry.
Some 100 sugar industry stakeholders attended the two-day event.
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