Heard on the news that various companies were given the OK to import frozen beef patties into Jamaica I’m not saying this is odd, but on the reals, the beef patty is one of the many trademarks of Jamaica, and i honestly think importing it into the country is rather ridiculous in some aspects. Here is an Article on the matter from the Jamaica Gleaner.

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Gov’t rejects JMA’s patty concerns
Published: Thursday | June 25, 2009

The Government has dismissed concerns raised yesterday by the Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association (JMA) about the importation of frozen patties, arguing there was nothing illegal about persons engaging in such trade.

“What we can do is lament the fact that patties are brought in here on a competitive basis but we can’t prevent people from importing anything into Jamaica,” said Karl Samuda, minister of industry, investment and commerce. “We can’t stop it because we are an open market.”

Samuda was responding to alarms raised by the JMA about imported frozen patties out of the United States being sold by a Corporate Area supermarket.

The JMA had raised the issue at its annual general meeting yesterday morning.

“There is Juici Beef, there is Tastee Patties producing and Jamaicans are purchasing imported patties and I find this totally ridiculous,” said Omar Azan, re-elected president of the JMA.

“We are having problems with foreign exchange
to buy raw materials to produce and employ Jamaicans but yet still we are finding US dollars to purchase imported patties?”

Omar Azan (left), president of the Jamaica Manufacturers' Association (JMA), shows Doreen Frankson (centre), immediate past president of the JMA, and vice-president Brian Pengelley a box of patties that were imported for sale in the island, during the JMA's annual general meeting in Kingston yesterday. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

Azan told the JMA’s members that the product was found on the shelves of an upscale supermarket in St Andrew, PriceSmart, while he was shopping there on the weekend.

Dan Kitson, assistant general manager at PriceSmart, declined to discuss the matter.

“We do sell Juici Beef Patties,” Kitson told The Gleaner when informed of the JMA heads criticism.

“I am going to be pressing (on this), because if we don’t put our foot down we won’t have a country for our children to live and enjoy,” Azan said.

Samuda

Produced by Caribbean Delights

The frozen patties in question are produced by Caribbean Delights, which is based in the United States.

But yesterday Samuda pointed out that, because Jamaica is a signatory to free trade agreements, the country could not stop patties from being imported.

Meanwhile, the commerce ministry yesterday reported that the way was now clear for Jamaican ‘Tastee’ patties to be exported to Trinidad.

“This follows the completion of a report carried out by the CARICOM Sanitary and Phytosanitary Inspection Team, which conducted an inspection into the product, and the general environment and conditions under which it is prepared,” the ministry said in a release.

Source: The Jamaica Gleaner