The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

An Abaco poultry farmer yesterday said the agriculture industry would become more appealing to entrepreneurs and investors if the Government eliminates tiresome bureaucracy.

Lance Pinder, Abaco Big Bird Poultry’s operations manager, told Tribune Business “anything is possible” when it came to making agriculture more appealing as a business venture, but said misconceptions about the industry being just ‘dirty work in the field’ needs to change.

“There is a lot of technology and science to this, so it’s not what people think a lot of times. There are things like machinery, learning about soil and chemical compositions and all sorts of stuff you learn when you get into agriculture,” Mr Pinder said.

He added that the Department of Agriculture was “understaffed and underfunded”, despite Clay Sweeting, newly-appointed minister for agriculture, marine resources and Family Island affairs vowing to make the sector “sexy” and more appealing to investors and entrepreneurs.

Mr Pinder said: “One of the biggest problems that’s been going on for as long as I know is getting tax concession permits. You have to wait two to three weeks, and some times up to six weeks, in order to get your duty-free items. In this day and time it’s something that needs to be dealt with and it’s just not acceptable.

“If I don’t really need it, I don’t bother with it, because it only holds up my Customs paperwork and if then that’s not done, the Customs department is on my case because my stuff isn’t cleared. Often times you need the stuff right away, and you can’t get it unless you pay the duties. It’s just really messed up.”

Mr Pinder argued that implementation of Customs’ Electronic Single Window, known as Click2Clear, in 2019 further complicated the process.

“Because of the way they changed it, if you had an entry before, whether it was duty-free or taxable, it was all on one entry. But now they have it so you have to put your dutiable stuff on one entry and you have to put your duty-free stuff on another entry, and they have to add the Excise tax, too, on another entry,” complained Mr Pinder.

He now has to make three separate entries for one set of supplies, all of which increases brokerage costs. “So instead of our concession and the situation getting better, it has actually gotten worse with this new Customs system. Unless I’m bringing in something that’s worth several thousands of dollars, it just isn’t worth it,” Mr Pinder added.

Shipping costs are another obstacle. Mr Pinder said: “The cost of inter-island shipping is a big problem. The way the mailboats are set up makes it difficult for farm products to get around the country, especially for perishable items.

“Some things like onions aren’t so bad because they can stay in dry storage, but when you’re talking about perishable items like meat, these things need to be kept refrigerated or frozen. It’s very challenging.

“There is no boat that goes between Nassau and Freeport that can carry frozen freight. There was one that would carry our product on the deck, telling us it is such a short distance that it wouldn’t matter. But we wouldn’t put our product on that. I wouldn’t send chickens out like that,” he added.

“Crop insurance is another big thing. They have been talking about crop insurance for the past 20 years, but nothing has been done. It’s like we’ve been spinning on a hamster wheel and repeating the same thing over and over again.”