BAS says poultry and pig farmers losing as local businesses import produce unnecessarily

There are mounting fears in the agriculture sector that some pig and poultry farmers are about to go out of business due to mass imports of pork and poultry products by at least one local retailer, and some businesses posing as having manufacturing plants.

That assertion from President of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS) James Paul, who said farmers were already burdened by high input costs and a diminished customer base due to the current economic circumstance.

At a press conference on Thursday, Paul said he heard the “disturbing news” this week that a retailer was importing chicken breast and pork chops despite the local market being able to meet the demand with high quality products.

He said that further undermining local poultry and pork producers was the setting up of supposed meat manufacturing plants by some importers.

Local farmers produce roughly 1.5 kilogrammes of pork per year, while about one million kilogrammes is imported. Poultry farmers produce around 10 million birds per year.

It is estimated that there are more than 2 000 pig and poultry farmers in Barbados.

“We have a brazen member of our private sector who can choose to import products at a time when the market is depressed…. From time to time, you hear farmers complaining that they cannot get their products sold, sales of local poultry meat are depressed and people are looking for opportunities to sell. The pork is the same thing,” complained Paul.

“But, lo and behold, we have private people in this country who, instead of working with our local producers to source products, they have chosen to import products to help out another individual overseas. There is something wrong with this on a number of scores.

“We also have persons who sometimes do it under a guise where they set up what is supposed to be a manufacturing plant, and by setting up that manufacturing plant it gives them certain duty-free privileges. I am asking the Government to see if some of these operations that are masquerading as manufacturing operations, whether or not the licence they have been granted for that manufacturing, if it shouldn’t be reviewed,” the BAS head added.

Paul said while he appreciated that the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security was doing its best to ensure farmers are able to continue to make a living, he would be reaching out to the Minister to do what he could to stop the importation.

In fact, he said he would also be reaching out to the Ministry of Energy, Small Business and Entrepreneurship, asking for greater scrutiny of how import licences are granted.

“I call on Government to be mindful of the tricks that these companies use in order to bring their products from overseas. In the United States or UK, they would not do that to their producers but we are a third world country so they believe they can get away with this kind of nonsense down here,” Paul contended.

“I am saying that these licences for the importation of these products should be immediately halted. The only establishment in this country that should be importing poultry meat is the Barbados Agriculture Development and Marketing Cooperation.”

He opted not to name the guilty companies, but instead lauded fast food restaurants for using locally produced poultry and vegetables, and some supermarkets for selling local items.

Barbados TODAY understands that a St Thomas wholesale club-style retailer, one St George wholesale food distribution company and a Lower Estate, St Michael wholesale and distribution firm that carries its own brand of products, were at the centre of the allegations.

Stopping short of calling for a boycott of the establishments, Paul urged farmers and consumers to be more discerning of where they spend their money and to support more local businesses.

He also noted that he was fast approaching “a point where we will have to name and shame” those guilty of importing massive quantities of products to compete with local producers.

Paul said there was also some indication that the dairy industry was getting increased competition from imports.

Last year, the poultry industry produced over one million birds fewer than the year before, due to subdued demand and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

President of the Barbados Egg and Poultry Association Stephen Layne told Barbados TODAY any importation of poultry products at this time would be devastating to the local industry, saying such an action was “unconscionable and an abandonment of the local industry”.

He said while farmers welcomed support from Government, this was simply not enough to sustain their operations in the long-term and they needed more guarantee that big businesses would source items locally.

Pointing out that poultry and egg producers have not had an increase in over a decade, Layne told Barbados TODAY this reality has already forced many of them out of business.

“Then to have this slap in the face, I consider it very disloyal that supermarkets would want to get involved in that activity and clearly understand the significance of thousands of people that are hired directly and indirectly in the poultry sector,” he said, adding that the matter should be addressed “in a more aggressive manner” if the situation continued.

Layne, who is First Vice President of the BAS, said he was also concerned about the importation of pork because “a number of pig farmers are on the brink of going out as well”.

He said some of those farmers have invested in technology to improve their operation, but the imports would only “set them back” since they were unable to compete with the lower priced imported products that have been mass produced.
(marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb)