The Integrity Commission has turned the spotlight on an absence of transparency in the permit process for chicken back and neck imports.
Major Jamaican chicken producers are pressing the Government for 100 per cent inspection of all poultry imports in the wake of a damning report by the Integrity Commission citing fraud, duty evasion, and a permit process that lacks integrity and facilitates corruption.
Some importers have been accused of blending in leg quarters among shipments of chicken back and neck to escape combined tariffs for premium parts that reportedly amount to as much as 240 per cent. Chicken neck and back are lower-grade parts that are consumed in huge volumes among Jamaica’s poorest households.