PRESS RELEASES 2005

Jamaica Preclearance Program Website Enhances Jamaican Exports

May 20, 2005

The United States Department of Agriculture, in cooperation with Jamaica’s Ministry of Agriculture, has launched a new website, http://www.jamaicapreclearance.com.  The website is intended as a new tool to help expedite the entry of Jamaican agricultural exports to the United States through the Jamaica Pre-clearance Program. 

The new Internet portal provides important information on the program’s inspection, fumigation and certification services for Jamaican agricultural produce before it is shipped to U.S. ports.  The program also supervises produce packing into air or sea containers.   The website offers a “step by step guide” to these procedures for Jamaican exporters, and gives details on the cost of the service; which plants can enter the United States; pests that are commonly intercepted; and information on new procedures and regulations.  For example, one recent development is that the Pointed Gourd (Trichosanthes dioica) has been added to the extensive list of products that can enter the United States through the pre-clearance program.  This list, which includes fruit, flowers, vegetables and root crops, is also available on the new website.

All exporters registered by JAMPRO and the Ministry of Agriculture can make use of the Jamaica Preclearance Program, which is administered by a five-person team working alongside Jamaican counterparts at Jamaica’s international airports in Kingston and Montego Bay.   

The Jamaica Preclearance Program was first funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) from 1984-1995. The Jamaica Exporters Association then funded the program between 1996 and March 31, 2001, when it was handed over to Jamaica’s Ministry of Agriculture.