Will Belize Export Poultry to Jamaica?

A team from Jamaica is presently in Belize on a fact-finding mission to determine whether poultry produced locally can be exported to the island nation on a commercial scale.  The delegation met with Minister of Agriculture Jose Abelardo Mai and the Belize Poultry Association on Tuesday.  According to Armando Cowo, Manager of the B.P.A., discussions between Belize and Jamaica are at a very preliminary phase.

On the phone: Armando Cowo

On the phone: Armando Cowo, Manager, Belize Poultry Association

“At this moment, it’s an expression basically of interest.  There’s nothing concrete yet on the ground, they are here exploring and looking at the facilities that we have and looking at the capacity that we have before they move on to the next step.  The meeting was basically a fact-finding mission on their behalf, looking at our capacities and so on to see if we can fulfill whatever demand they might have and we do hope that we can convince them that yes, they are looking at the right country and hopefully they can make progress here with us in Belize and at the end of the day we can export to Jamaica.  As you all know, we have two companies that are certified for export based on a risk analysis that was done in 2017 or 2018, thereabout, the Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Authority, CAHFSA, we got two plants, based on that risk analysis, export ready.  So yeah, we are looking at possibilities of moving out into the Caribbean.”