Business: News in the Caribbean - Caribbean360.com

KINGSTON, Jamaica, May 1, 2008 - Jamaica Flour Mills will import 30,000 tonnes of rice into the island to stave off a shortage in the supply on the local market. But Minister of Industry, Commerce and Investment Karl Samuda, who said that the imports will serve consumers for the next six months, has announced that the staple will not come from Jamaica's regular supplier, Guyana.

"We intend to bring that rice to the Jamaican people at a price that is competitive with the Guyanese rice under the same provisions that the rice from Guyana comes in," he said.

The Minister explained that Guyana has been supplying Jamaica with rice for a number of years but according to him, "the supply chain has not been what one would call perfect, and it has at times been very challenging to those who import and the distributors who distribute".

"Whenever we find ourselves in that position, the persons who suffer the most are our consumers because the forces of supply and demand come into play, and as soon as there is a threat of any shortage of supplies the prices start to move and hoarding starts to take place," he added

Mr Samuda said the move to obtain rice from a source other than Guyana was in the best interest of consumers.

"We will not place the Jamaican consumers at risk. I must take into consideration the conditions under which the Jamaican people have to live, and we are not about to place our consumers at risk," he stressed.

He said Jamaica would argue its case at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) meeting next month.

"But make no mistake about it, on my watch, as Minister (with) responsibility for protecting the interests of the consumers, I will not bend for an inch in my resolve to ensure that we protect our consumers," Mr Samuda declared.

Meantime, Guyana's Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud has expressed concern that subsidized rice coming into the region could harm the local rice industry.

"If it is coming from the United States where the rice industry is subsidized in excess of 51 per cent, you can imagine what impact that can have in terms of competitiveness of our rice industry and we have worked hard in Guyana to make our rice industry more competitive," Mr Persaud said.

He charged that Guyana was able to supply enough rice for Jamaica, but that country was simply seeking a cheaper price.

"I rather suspect that it's more of pricing than supply because of the price moving. We have adequate supply and it's up to the buyers and the supporters to work out the details and government cannot tell the exporters that they must sell rice at a certain price to Jamaica," the Agriculture Minister said.

"We don't want our farmers or anyone in the rice sector to be forced to be selling at an uneconomical and at a price that is not viable."

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