KINGSTON, Jamaica, Thursday June 4, 2015 – Jamaica is making moves to cash in on the mango market in the United States.
The Ministry of Agriculture has developed an action plan to submit to the US Department of Agriculture/Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) for consideration and approval for Jamaican mangoes to be exported to that country.
This comes as the Ministry seeks to maximize the opportunities being provided under the USDA’s pre-clearance facility, which currently provides Jamaica with pre-clearance to export some 52 fruits and crops to the United States.
These include breadfruit, calalloo, pineapple, strawberries, and guineps, which were shortlisted prior to 2014, when the facility was extended to incorporate mangoes.
Minister of Agriculture Derrick Kellier says his ministry is “moving apace,” under its Global Good Agricultural Practices (GLOBALGAP) Certification Programme, to institute measures conforming to export/import requirements for mangoes under the facility. The varieties targeted include: East Indian, St. Julian, and Number Eleven.
GLOBALGAP is an internationally recognized set of farm standards, and through certification, producers demonstrate their adherence to them.
Noting that the ministry sought the assistance of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in “determining the way forward” in relation to US mango exports, Kellier said a technical cooperation plan has been developed, targeting specific engagements.
These include: conducting a market analysis, indicating both domestic and export potential; conducting a value chain analysis, to make an evidence-based determination of the feasibility for upgrading the value chain; undertaking a feasibility study for hot water quarantine treatment, and preparatory work to establish the quarantine protocol, based on the USDA’s Systems Approach, once the sector is deemed viable; and developing a mango value chain development and upgrading strategy.
“A stakeholders’ consultation was held in May 2015, and the final report will be ready by mid June 2015. This is an opportunity for the establishment of large acreages of mango orchard,” the minister noted.
Meanwhile, Kellier urged local exporters to collaborate with the Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry, particularly the Plant Quarantine and Produce Branch, to take advantage of the opportunities to export more of the other fruits and crops on the USDA pre-clearance facility list.
He expressed concern that while there are 52 varieties of produce, “we are currently only supplying less than a quarter of the designated list of items.”
“There are opportunities here, and Jamaica needs to take advantage of these provisions which facilitate the speedy export of these non-traditional commodities,” Kellier said, adding that “in our agro-parks, we are also targeting non-traditional produce, including sweet potatoes, melon, oranges and pineapples, in our certification programme.”
He was speaking at the Ministry’s Plant Quarantine Division’s exporters’ forum which formed part of week-long activities to commemorate Plant Quarantine Week, from May 30 to June 5.