Building a Better Jamaica

TORONTO (JIS):
Friday, August 06, 2010

Courtesy of Jamaica Information Service

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, met Thursday (August 5) with Ontario's Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Hon. Carol Mitchell, to discuss topics of mutual interest.

The meeting, which took place at the Ontario Minister's offices in downtown Toronto, Canada, was also attended by Jamaica's Consul General to Toronto, George Ramocan, as well as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Donovan Stanberry, and Chief Technical Director in the Ministry, Dr. Marc Panton.

Dr. Tufton, who is on an official visit to Canada, August 3 - 11, is visiting three cities - Toronto, Guelph and Ottawa - while in Canada, and hopes to interest potential investors in Jamaica's agricultural sector, as well as promote the export of Jamaican agricultural products.

The Minister said he will also look at some of Canada's agricultural areas and possibly "form some alliances".

Courtesy of Jamaica Information Service

In Ottawa, Dr. Tufton will be meeting with his Federal counterpart, Canada's Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Gerry Ritz. He will also visit several dairy and small ruminants farms; the Canadian Dairy Commission, which regulates the dairy industry; the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which safeguards Canada's food industry; and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA).

Dr. Tufton noted that Jamaica's dairy industry lost ground because of subsidised imports, and hopes to get some technical support from Canada, not only for that sector, but also on "the traceability of foods", which is important for trading and Phyto-sanitation issues.

Courtesy of Jamaica Information Service

The Minister will hold extensive talks with faculty members of the University of Guelph's Ontario Agricultural College (OAC), one of Canada's leading agriculture institutions, on a variety of topics including crops, tree fruits, dairy, veterinary, greenhouse/vegetables and industrial bio-products.

He has so far held meetings in Toronto with persons interested in investing in Jamaica's agricultural sector, and has paid a courtesy call on Ontario's Minister of Health Promotion, Hon. Margarett Best, who was born in Chapelton, Clarendon, Jamaica.