– U.S refiners considering temporary import from Guyana
JAMAICA’S problem-plagued sugar industry has been dealt another severe blow after the United States threatened last week to ban consolidated imports of sugar from the island. The threat is in the wake of accusations that Jamaica has shipped over 7,260 tons of “sour sugar” recently to the U.S.
Jamaica could also face millions of dollars in fines, much larger than what it had paid back in 2004 for a similar occurrence.
The U.S has accused Jamaica of knowingly trying to pass-off thousands of tons of sugar that was sour, and fell way below the sweetness standards to America refiners.
Jamaica’s Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Christopher Sulton has since ordered an investigation into the incident.
In an excerpt seen by this newspaper, Minister Sulton said he will await a report from the investigating team, with a view to ascertaining who may have been culpable, if the allegations are proven to be true.
Sugar industry insiders opine that the matter is a national embarrassment that could deal a severe blow to Jamaica’s already faltering sugar industry, as exports to the U.S have been temporarily suspended.
Some Jamaican sugar manufacturers are blaming the incident on the pool system used by the JCPS (Jamaica Cane Products Sales), which allows for the mixing of poor and quality sugar from the various estates across the island.
Word has since been circulating within the JCPS that the U.S refiners are contemplating sourcing sugar from Guyana in the interim, until the matter with Jamaica is resolved.
However, such an option does not sit well with the Jamaican government, which is urging restraint while expressing optimism that Jamaica can supply high quality sugar as per the agreement with U.S refiners.

The Jamaican sugar industry has been plagued by an unimaginable scale of worries that seems never-ending. Only recently, hundreds of acres of sugarcane in the island were lost to flooding, when several fields were inundated with water for weeks after Hurricane Thomas.
There were also 76 cases of arson committed against the island’s sugar industry over the past ten months alone.
Jamaicans now fear that the current incident would mean that hundreds of sugar workers within the privatized sugar industry would be placed on the breadline.