Jamaica
will soon be exporting Mangoes to the United States of America.
The
Ministry of Agriculture is moving ahead to put in place the necessary
export/import requirements to comply with the United States Department of
Agriculture/Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service as explained in the article
“Jamaica
Seeking To Export Mangoes To US”, published Thursday June 4, 2015, The Jamaica Gleaner.
Jamaica had originally gotten permission from the United States Department of Agriculture/Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in September 2014 to export Mangoes to the US of A as reported in my blog article entitled “Jamaica to Export Mangoes to America - Why US$20 Million Processing Plant for Radiation Therapy and Hot Water Baptism needed to Tap US$500 Million US Market”.
The
announcement was made by Acting Minister of Agriculture Derrick Kellier during
the opening ceremony for the Ministry’s Plant Quarantine Division’s exporters’
forum on Tuesday June 2nd 2015 that was held at the Jamaica Pegasus
Hotel in New Kingston.
Once
we're qualified, we'll be able to export the following varieties of Mangoes:
1.
East Indian
2.
St Julian
3.
Number Eleven
This
is now possible thanks to the United States Department of Agriculture
Pre-Clearance facility, which gives Jamaica the ability to process and export Mangoes
and fifty one (51) other fruits and vegetables to the United States of America.
Back
in September 2014, that shortlist was extended to include Mangoes along with calalloo,
pineapple, strawberries, guineps and
breadfruit, which is also being grown under the National Fruit-Tree Crop
Project as explained in my blog article
entitled “Breadfruit
and Fruit Tree Revival coming under RADA's National Fruit-Tree Crop Project -
Red Stripe and Agro-Investment Corporation an example of how Agriculture
benefits both Farmer and GOJ”.
We
had been originally slated to start exports in January 2015 but we had to
satisfy certain requirements set by the United States Department of
Agriculture/Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Jamaica to export Mangoes
to US of A - How Jamaica qualified to export Mangoes but cannot import Chicken
Back from US of A
So
how does this United States Department of Agriculture Pre-Clearance facility
work?
This
pre-clearance facility lists fruits and vegetables that Jamaica produces that
meet with the stringent standards of the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service, the division of the United States Department of Agriculture that sets
the rules for what Jamaica can and cannot export to the US of A.
Prior
to getting permission back in September 2014, Jamaica had been banned from
exporting to the US of A for 30 years. This was due to the presence of the West
Indian Fruit Fly (Anastrepha obliqua)
and the Caribbean Fruit Fly (Anastrepha
suspensa) as noted in my blog article
entitled “Breadfruit
and Fruit Tree Revival coming under RADA's National Fruit-Tree Crop Project -
Red Stripe and Agro-Investment Corporation an example of how Agriculture
benefits both Farmer and GOJ”.
This
time around, to reduce the risk of spreading this pest in the US of A, the
Ministry of Agriculture has had to build a US$20 million Processing plant in
order to process the Mangoes to make them fit for export. The larvae of these
pests are deeply embedded in the Mango’s skin.
In
order to remove them, the US$20 million Processing plant uses one of two (2)
methods:
1.
A hot water immersion bath
2.
Irradiation using a Cobalt-60 source
typically found in older X-Ray Machines
So
how profitable is the export of Mangoes to the US market? Very profitable,
albeit their interest in Mangoes overall is shrinking.
American market for Mangoes
– 14 Mango Orchards to supply the US of A Demand
In
addition to this strict procedure, the Mangoes can only come from fourteen (14)
or more designated farms registered with the US Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service. These orchards are located as follows:
1.
10 in St Thomas
2.
2 in St James
3.
2 to 150 hectares
4.
Julie and East Indian Mangoes are the
main varieties
Albeit
this may seem a lot to go through to export Mangoes, consider these statistics:
1.
US$500 million market in the US of A for
Local Farmers
2.
US$1.2 million to US$1.6 million worth
of Mangoes exported annually over the past decade
3.
US$1.9 billion Global Demand for Mangoes
in 2013
These
fourteen (14) Mango orchards have the following export capacity:
1.
261,000 kg of Mangoes to the US per
annum
2.
261,000 kg is 0.1% of current demand
from the US of A
3.
500,000 kg of Mangoes estimated to be
reaped in 2015
Current
Total demand for Mangoes by the US market is estimated as follows:
1.
US$360 million to US$500 million in 2015
2.
US$180 million in 2003
Globally,
however, the US of A isn't the largest importer of Mangoes, as Canada and the
UK are also falling in love with Mangoes:
1.
30% of exported Mangoes go to the US of
A in 2004
2.
26% of exported Mangoes go to the US of
A in 2014
Meanwhile,
the rest of the world is getting hooked on Jamaican Mangoes since 2014:
1.
670,000 kg of Mangoes exported to Canada
and the UK
2.
US$1.5 million in foreign from Mangoes
exported to Canada and the UK
So
in summary, we’re spending US$20 million to go after a shrinking US$360 million
to US$500 million American demand for Mangoes. So what’s really holding the
interest of Americans in the fruit department?
American market for Mangoes
is shrinking - Bananas are the new fruit of choice
America's
waning love for the Mango over the decade has to do with the rising love for
Bananas, with the American market being the largest single consumer of the
yellow fruit. It's convenient to eat and unlike Mangoes, isn't prone to being
soft or juicy, running all over your hands and leaving stains on your clothes.
Bananas
are the perfect snack fruit and farms in Latin America owned by American
company Chiquita Banana are already supplying that demand.
So
basically, the Ministry of Agriculture has gotten permission to sell Mangoes to
a market that’s slowly losing interest in Mangoes even as the rest of the world
sees them as the next best thing to Apples, grapes or pears.
Still,
water baptism wouldn't hurt our Mango exporting prospects now that we have
access to United States Department of Agriculture Pre-Clearance facility!
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