Phillips: keep exports free of contraband
The importance of the export sector to Jamaica’s economy and the need to protect it from being contaminated by illegal drugs was underscored last week by national security minister Dr Peter Phillips.
Phillips told participants at the launch of the Jamaica Chapter of the Business Anti-Smuggling Coalition (BASC) programme, at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston, that the association between BASC and the exporters association represented a crucial commitment to protect the export sector.
The event was hosted in association with the Jamaica Exporters’ Association (JEA).
“The export trade is a critical element in the success of the country’s manufacturing sector,” noted the minister.
Manufacturing accounted for an estimated 24 per cent of merchandise exports in 2001, and employed 85,000 persons. The sector accounted for just over 15 per cent of Jamaica’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Phillips argued that while globalisation had removed the traditional barriers to the movement of goods and liberalised the movement of persons, services, money and technology, it had also “provided mechanisms that have enabled the proliferation of the transnational drug trade that now looms larger than ever”.
But the minister acknowledged that Jamaica’s manufacturing industry had overcome several challenges to stay alive.
“Despite challenges such as identifying key markets for export, high tariffs, bureaucracy, competition, maintaining international supply, packaging and labelling standards, competition from cheaper imports, for the most part, the manufacturing sector has demonstrated tremendous resilience,” he said.
The BASC is a non-profit, co-operation programme between private sector and national and international organisations, created to promote a secure global supply chain. It encourages within its membership the development and implementation of voluntary steps to address the risks of narcotics and merchandise smuggling through legitimate trade.
The JEA is the local executing agency for BASC, promoting its programmes through meetings, seminars and other promotional activities.