The Sugar Industry Authority is a statutory body which was created in 1970 by way of an amendment to the Sugar Industry Control Act of 1937 (The Act) to succeed a weaker body, the Sugar Industry Control Board. The Authority was vested with wide powers to regulate and control the industry, including the functions of arbitration, monitoring,planning, research and development and monitoring and overseeing the marketing of sugar and molasses.
In 1994 the SIA appointed Jamaica Cane Products Sales Limited(JCPS) as its agent for the marketing of sugar pursuant to Section 6 of the Sugar Industry Control Act.