Who knew Canadian pork is prized here in Jamaica. I spotted this ad the other day in the Jamaica Gleaner and became curious as to how much pork Jamaica imports from Canada. (According to this web site, Canada is one of the only countries with which Jamaica maintains a trade surplus, which includes pork, although this site appears dated). It is difficult to find numbers, but it appears to be a substantial amount. And the “genetics” are apparently the best, according to this ad.

A little bit of research reveals that pork producers are suffering as a result of government policies dating back to 2007, when legislators adopted import reduction tactics. There is now a glut of local pork and farmers are demanding a price increase. According to the Jamaica Observer, the Ministry of Agriculture estimates the

registered pig sector produced just under 9.5 million kilograms of pork in 2012 up from just over 7.1 kilograms in 2011. In 2012 dress cuts produced locally amounted to 7.9 million kilos while edible offals were quantified at 1.582 million kilos, up from 5.925 million kilos of dress cuts and 1.185 million kilos in edible offals the previous year.

A World Bank-funded study conducted on behalf of the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) by local firm Trevor Hamilton and Associates, which was published last year, placed the value of Jamaica’s pork industry at $6.4 billion.

The story also states that imports are now restricted to only select parts of the pig. I wonder why Jamaica would need to import any pork at all, as I would assume conditions here are conducive to raising pigs. And I wonder why this ad is running and what it is all about…