JCC: Gov’ts must help close price gap on Caribbean goods

WESTERN BUREAU:

The Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) is pushing back against concerns raised by Rodwell Ferguson, Belize’s Minister of Agriculture, about the reluctance of some businesses to purchase regionally produced goods, arguing that companies cannot reasonably be expected to sacrifice profitability simply to support Caribbean products.

In an interview with The Gleaner on the sidelines of the ongoing CARICOM’s Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) event in Trelawny, JCC President Emile Leiba said the issue was more nuanced than Ferguson was suggesting.

“I don’t think it is fair to just phrase it as if Caribbean manufacturers and sellers don’t support Caribbean products,” said Leiba in responding to concerns.

Ferguson said that governments were making efforts to increase production and strengthen food security, but businesses and consumers also had to change their reluctance to purchase Caribbean-made goods.

“As governments, we make the suggestion that this is what we want to do, while sometimes the private sector is reluctant to purchase within the region,” he said, arguing that the problem was also rooted in consumer attitudes, with some Caribbean people placing greater value on goods produced outside the region.

“Likewise, as Caribbean members, if it’s purchased in Barbados, I wonder why I buy something that is made in Barbados. I want it to be made in China or Europe, and that mentality needs to be changed,” Ferguson said.

SELF-SUFFICIENT

He said his country had become self-sufficient in several commodities, including rice, beans, corn, chicken and soybeans, and argued that Caribbean countries needed to do more to trade with each other.

“We must be able to help each other to survive,” he said.

However, in taking issue with the concern raised by Ferguson, Leiba said purchasing decisions by businesses are largely influenced by commercial considerations, including price, quality and consumer demand.

“I think any solid business person should support Caribbean products and should prefer Caribbean products,” he said.

However, he said businesses must remain competitive and cannot simply choose a Caribbean-made product if doing so places them at a disadvantage.

Leiba further argued that governments have a role to play in addressing the cost differences that can make regionally imported products more attractive.

“That is where governments would need to step in to make the Caribbean product more palatable for the individual business owner,” he said, while suggesting that governments could examine measures such as duties and external tariffs to help reduce the cost and disadvantages faced by Caribbean producers.

Leiba also pointed to the competitive pressures facing Jamaican businesses, noting that consumers have access to imported alternatives to many locally available products.

“Most things that are offered in Jamaica, people can import some variants of it from overseas, and so local sellers have to compete with that, and we have to bear that in mind,” he said.

The CWA event, which will wrap up on October 2, is focused on investment, export expansion, climate resilience, technology and the transformation of Caribbean food systems.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com