Jamaica sugar exports get passing grade

Mark Titus, Sunday Gleaner Writer

United States authorities have given the 7,270.42 metric tonnes of sugar sent from Jamaica in January a passing grade for its polarisation (the measurement of sucrose content), but has penalised the Sugar Industry Authority (SIA) for three other quality infractions that were detected during tests on the shipment.

Results show that polarisation came out at 97.56, which earned the industry a premium of US$103,876.01 for being above the standard 96 base quality; but grain size, colour and dextran failed to meet the required standards, and although minimal, saw the industry being slapped with fines of US$14,247, US$3,344 and US$27,477, respectively. Dextran is an organism developed in stale cane or formed by the fermentation of sugar.

"It was important for us to await the final result," said Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Christopher Tufton, who had ordered an investi-gation into the matter. "We now have a true picture of the situation and, hopefully, this will help to clarify any misunderstandings which have been out there in the media."

The issue was first reported in The Sunday Gleaner after players in the industry expressed concerns about the quality of supply from Frome Sugar Estate in Westmoreland and the possible impact of a failed test, in a time when the industry is seeking to regain its footing.

Frome, the first to start for the 2010-2011 season, contributed 4,092 tonnes to the shipment, while Worthy Park, Appleton and Golden Grove supplied 245 tonnes, 1,807 tonnes and 1,859, tonnes respectively.

Not unusual

But head of the Jamaica Cane Product Sales, Karl James, played down the concerns that the Frome sugar could affect the entire cargo; arguing that supplies from the other firms would augment the standard of the total amount exported.

"All the sugar from Frome is not that quality," James said on a recent radio programme. "I do accept that there are questions of some of the sugar that came for the ports, but it is not unusual."

But concerns were also raised about the state of the equipment being used at the factory, this was however dismissed by SCJ Holdings boss, Aubyn Hill.

It would not be the first time that the industry was penalised for surpassing the acceptable level for dextran. In 2004, the then Sugar Company of Jamaica was fined US$1.5 million by its American trading partners. That shipment of 2,500 tonnes of sugar was found to have too much dextran.

Although not harmful to humans, a count of over 250 units leads to a penalty for the producer based on the Sugar Marketing Supplies Protocol, which was developed out of the mutual interests of the refiners seeking reliable and predictable supplies of sugar.

According to a release from the SIA, the industry has been having problems with undesirable levels of dextran and has received grant funding from the Eurpopean Union to effectively deal with this issue. "All the other indices tested normal, including moisture levels."

"The buyers have already paid us for the sugar as contracted and the sugar has already been processed satisfactorily by the buyer," the SIA added.