Agro Processing Strategy

16i n d u s t r y sec t o r strategyMinistry of Health, Ministry of Industry,Investment & Commerce, JTI, JEA,JAPA, CABA, JMA, Jamaica Customs,Trade Board. Other service providersinclude the Mona Institute of AppliedSciences, and private labs.General issues include coordination,and some of these are highlighted inthe Quality Management cross-cuttingstrategy. The main area of fragmentationidentified is among the standards entities.Another general concern is the level ofinformation sharing – including crossmeetings.Some specific institutionalissues include:SRCBSJo Focus on commercialisation inorder to earn revenue (ratherthan their core function relatedto industry development andsupport).o They are thought to be competent,having sufficient technicalresources.o Their direction and research couldbe more market-driven.o Some equipment may needupgrading.o There is a focus on commercialJTIrevenues as well by offeringcourses and lab services, whichcould and should be offered by theprivate sector.o Also due to their revenue drive,services are expensive.o They need to increase capacity toincrease staff available to carry outfunctionso The industry finds that themany new persons are not yetwell informed and competent,therefore training may need to beenhanced.o Has an ad-hoc approach tomarket development, rather than astrategic market development andpenetration approach.o The quality of market informationneeds improvement.o Not sufficiently responsive toclients.o Their mandate is not clear to theirclients.o The EC/BIPs• Platform development andpromotion will be critical.• Information officers in the