The main farmers’ body on Monday stepped up pressure on the government’s facilitation of imports of poultry and pork, insisting they are undercutting domestic production and pushing small farmers towards collapse, Barbados TODAY can reveal.
Chief Executive of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS), James Paul, angrily pointed to the state-owned Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (BADMC) which is allowing the importation of poultry and pork even while both industries are expanding production and operations.
Paul told Barbados TODAY: “We are very concerned on two fronts. One, you have a situation where we have had expansion in the poultry industry. We have gotten assistance… [which] was rendered through the BAS by the government, to expand the operations. So, we have more poultry coming onto the market.
“At the same time, you have a situation where there seems to be an expansion in terms of larger producers, where, again, they are expanding production. So, generally, there is an expansion; yet at the same time where there seems to be the facilitation of poultry imports both regionally and extra-regionally.”
He continued: “There is a situation now where small farmers have been unable to sell their poultry, because of the fact that you have now a situation where BICO recently announced it is reaching near capacity to be able to accommodate further cold storage.
“There is a fear, because of the change in ownership of BICO, that that is going to cause stress because there is where the small farmers used to store the chicken they cannot get sold.”
Paul said that storage means increased losses for small farmers while profit margins shrink.
“The smaller producers are under threat because, at the end of the day, the cold storage charges will have to be paid. So, it reduces their profits, and their ability to stay in business. So, it works out to the advantage of larger producers; and in addition to that, you have the imports that are coming in; and it is to our knowledge that BADMC has facilitated the importation of the commodity for a large buyer in the country.
“At the same time you have … and this is dark meat [importation] that was facilitated … then at the same time, you have an increase in poultry production. Something is going wrong.”
A similar state of affairs exists in the pork industry, he said.
“You had an expansion in pork production in the country. What we have seen too, is some small producers are now medium-sized producers. We have had good investment in terms of the pork-producing plants. So, I mean, we have had expansion. Yet we are allowing imports of these commodities. I find there is hypocrisy in Barbados.”
The BAS chief executive also dismissed suggestions by people in some quarters for producers to reduce their prices.
“Seriously? You are asking … and these are poor people that depend on chicken production to feed their families … to drop their prices? On the other hand, you have Bajans going and don’t mind paying exorbitant prices for other commodities. Not only that; even the same commodities are coming in from the US or wherever, and Bajans are prepared to pay even more for them than they pay for local produce. Now, seriously, we have a double standard.”
Paul noted that the BAS has been calling on the government to plug loopholes in the tariffs that have been created.
“Those loopholes that have been created are actually working against the smaller producers of products in this country. We feel that the BADMC needs to take a break on the importation of things such as turkey products as well. Again, the BADMC needs to step up as to the role it is supposed to play as being the sole importer of poultry in this country, whether that poultry is from our Caribbean neighbours or outside of the Caribbean.”
He said the country needs to ensure it does not have a situation where imported poultry harms domestic producers.
“In respect of pork, we have identified the issue already, where we have had the importation of certain line items in pork, where increasing quantities have started to come in because there has been a reduction in duties.
“We have asked the government to take the duties back up to where they were, because you cannot expect people making investments of over half a million dollars in their plant, and at the same time, producing good pork of quality … the sector can produce consistent good quality and price.”
Paul said there is now a situation where a processor is unable to sell pork parts such as loins and spare ribs in supermarkets.
Supermarkets and hotels prefer to buy the same products at even higher prices from importers rather than from the processor, he claimed.
“Now, tell me, that is not something that we need in Barbados. That is not fairness. That is not the way trade rules are supposed to operate in this dispensation. Something is going wrong. Then you have processors entering the market.
“You have the older processor such as HIPAC having to accede to purchase local pork; and then you have others coming in who have no requirement to purchase local pork. They purchase all kinds of imported pork and they are not giving the local pork producers a fair break. And I want to encourage local consumers, continue to support the local HIPAC products, because it is one of the few processors that we have that are giving farmers a fair break.”
The Ministry of Agriculture is scheduled to meet the Press on Tuesday on the issues surrounding the poultry industry.
