JACRA to Implement Cutting-Edge Traceability and Regulatory Platform This Year

The Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority (JACRA) will be rolling out its traceability and regulatory platform later this year.

Established in 2017 under the Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority Act, JACRA is a statutory body under the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining.

It oversees the development, regulation and standardisation of agricultural commodities such as coffee, cocoa, coconut, and spices, including ginger, nutmeg, pimento and turmeric.

Among its functions are setting quality standards, providing quality assurance and certification services, and promoting fair trade practices for both local and export markets.

Consequently, JACRA’s new blockchain-based platform will allow international consumers to review, locate and authenticate information about agricultural stakeholders involved in product development – particularly farmers – from anywhere in the world.

Blockchain is a decentralised digital ledger system that securely records transactions across a network of computers.

It operates as a chain of ‘blocks’, with each containing data, a timestamp, and a cryptographic link to the previous block.

This structure ensures that once data is recorded, it cannot be altered retroactively without network consensus.

Public Relations and Communications Specialist at JACRA, Kenrick Morgan, says that as part of the process, the Authority aims to place bar codes on products leaving Jamaica.

“Seventy per cent of our coffee goes to Japan. On the barrels of the coffee that go out we’ll have QR codes. Persons will be able to scan, see who the farmer is, where the farmer is located, what the farm is like and everything else related. We’re hoping to roll that out a little bit later this year,” he said.

Mr. Morgan was speaking during a recent Jamaica Information Service (JIS) ‘Think Tank’ at the Agency’s Television Department in Kingston.

Implementation of the blockchain-based traceability and regulatory platform is expected to play a critical role in safeguarding brand Jamaica, from the perspective of industry regulation.

“What this means for Jamaica is that we can sign and stamp, with a seal of approval, every authentic commodity and commodity-related product that leaves our island. We can look at this in the context, for example, of our Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee. [Using the platform] we can authenticate that the coffee being enjoyed across the world is actually Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee and not just a third-party knockoff. That is something we’re extremely happy and proud about,” Mr. Morgan said.

Data collated using the platform can also be analysed to identify specific indicators for other high-value commodities such as turmeric or ginger and cocoa.

“For example, [if] you’re a cocoa processor… at the moment, cocoa processors will sell a wide range of things, starting with the beans… we can authenticate that the beans being shipped abroad are 100 per cent Jamaican cocoa beans,” Mr. Morgan stated.

He added: “We can verify that the powder being sent is 100 per cent Jamaica cocoa powder; the bottle, the liqueur, everything else related we can now verify and authenticate that these things are 100 per cent Jamaican and, therefore, will carry higher value on the international market and a higher prestige in the cups and on the tables of our enjoyers across the world.”