There have been multiple reports in Caribbean and local media since last week, indicating that a shipment of 22.73 metric tons or 750 bags of Belizean red kidney beans, valued at over JM$2.6 million (BZ$60,000), had to be destroyed when it was found to be contaminated with rat droppings by the Food Storage and Prevention of Infestation Division (FSPID) of Jamaica’s Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce.

According to information released by the Jamaica Information Service, the contaminated beans were discovered in “a routine inspection of a container at a storage facility at the Kingston Harbour.”

Otto Friesen, manager of BEL-CAR in Spanish Lookout, Cayo, is the exporter, and he told our newspaper Wednesday morning that he received official notification yesterday from Jamaica, but it is very hard to say what the source of the contamination was.

Friesen told us that he has been shipping to Jamaica for the past 10 years, and this is the first time he has received such a notification. He told us that his company is fully under the advice of the Belize Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA), which scrutinizes the shipments before export.

Francisco Gutierrez, Director of Plant Health at BAHA in Central Farm, told Amandala today that whereas the importing country should promptly notify the exporting country, they had still not received official notification up until this morning and have only received information via the reports coming in the media. He told us that BAHA has, therefore, asked the Belize Ministry of Foreign Affairs to get the official information from Jamaica.

Gutierrez, like Friesen, informed us of media reports coming out of Jamaica signaling a serious problem with rat infestation in parts of that country. We searched online and found an article dated April 09, 2012, and published in the Jamaica Observer, entitled “Rats, rats, everywhere!” in which the newly installed Kingston mayor pledged a crackdown on the infestation.

Gutierrez was also careful to say, however, that this does not rule out the possibility that the contamination occurred before the beans arrived in Jamaica. However, he pointed to another incident with a shipment from Belize to Trinidad which was strangely found contaminated with snails after it had been sitting in a warehouse for three months.

The Jamaica reports did not say how long the beans had been in country at the Kingston Harbour storage facility before the find was made.

As for inspections, Gutierrez said that BAHA officers take samples, before the product leaves Belize, with special probes to check for pests, and they also do a thorough inspection to ensure that the containers used to ship Belizean produce overseas are clean. He noted, though, that it is not feasible to check everything in a shipment.

He said that, conversely, Belize also finds contamination in consignments coming into the country and they are sometimes destroyed, based on the nature of the contamination.

Belize exports hundreds of containers abroad, said Gutierrez, and in one instance, a shipment of papaya was returned because they had found an insect.

Belize is said to still be the only exporter of red kidney beans to the Caribbean, and Gutierrez emphasized the importance of sustaining high standards.

He noted that importing countries in CARICOM can seek derogation and get their produce from elsewhere if they can demonstrate that the produce does not meet the required standards.

It is noteworthy that Friesen has confirmed to us that his company, BEL-CAR, continues shipping to the Caribbean.

According to Gutierrez, Jamaica is one of Belize’s biggest buyers of black-eyed peas, red beans and ground corn. Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana also import Belizean beans.