Brac residents at a meeting hosted by the Department of Agriculture (DoA) felt that a draft proposal that would allow them to bring home produce from Grand Cayman by cargo would be too expensive.

In order to prevent the spread of the pink hibiscus mealybug (PHM) infestation to the Sister Islands, a ban is currently in place on all inter-island shipment of plants and produce, other than the movement on wholesale goods.

However, the DoA is looking into a mechanism to enable some movement of goods by individuals.

The draft discussion document was presented to Brackers by Chief Agricultural and Veterinary Officer (CAVO) Dr Alfred Benjamin and DoA Public Relations Officer Brian Crichlow on Tuesday 5 September at the Aston Rutty Centre.

On Wednesday, they presented their proposals to Little Cayman residents at the Little Cayman Beach Resort conference room.

They proposed that individuals would be able to carry produce not included on a list of high risk items between Islands under certain strict conditions. These would be: All produce must be clean and free of pest, and all shipments must be inspected by the DoA.

All approved produce must be shipped by sea or air cargo only.

Shipments must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate, stating details of the produce, the sender, the recipient, how it had been treated and the method of transportation.

All shipments of plant products purchased or grown in Grand Cayman would be subject to inspection on arrival in the Sister Islands and would be seized if it did not have a phytosanitary certificate issued by the DoA, or it contained any produce in excess of or other than what was stated on the phytosanitary certificate.

Dr Benjamin also said that all produce must be carried in a separate container. The container would be sealed after it had been inspected by the DoA and the certificate would either be handed to the carrier, or attached to the container.

While Brackers at the meeting welcomed the efforts of the DoA to find a way for them to shop for produce on Grand Cayman, the proposed method would be too costly, it was said.

Sister Islands MLA Moses Kirkconnell pointed out that shipping by air cargo is time consuming, plus the cost of doing so would add fifty cents per pound to goods carried on Cayman Airways Express and twenty-seven cents per pound on the jet service.

Mr Kirkconnell asked if the DoA could not find a way to enable people to carry produce as baggage, which would be easier and, if their total baggage weight remained under the limit, would not cost anything.

Dr Benjamin ruled out the possibility of transporting goods by hand luggage. The main difficulty with carrying it as baggage was DoA man-power, he said. However, he and Mr Crichlow said the DoA would investigate the feasibility of the suggestion.

Certain items would remain prohibited under all proposals while the risk of PHM infestation remains.

These include live plants, plant cuttings and flowers purchased or grown in Grand Cayman.

Also, high risk produce would not be allowed, including soursop, sweetsop, pineapple, breadfruit, papaya, carambola or starfruit, green bananas, ripe bananas, plantain, hot peppers, and seasoning peppers.

The DoA has also discussed the possibility of allowing approved produce to be transported by private vessels, provided they are inspected, issued a phytosanitary certificate and are in a container sealed by the DoA.

On arrival in the Sister Islands these containers would be inspected and will be seized if seals are tampered with or contents do not match exactly with what is listed on the phytosanitary certificate.

While the ban on shopping for produce on Grand Cayman has been an issue for Sister Islands' residents, wholesalers have also been affected by the PHM quarantine efforts.

Teresa Tibbetts, Assistant Manager at Billy's Supermarket, told Cayman Net News prior to Tuesday's meeting that, so far, three shipments of bananas that were ordered and paid for by the store, have been destroyed on arrival to Cayman Brac.

Ms Tibbetts, who was not at the meeting, wanted to know why they were allowed to come to the Brac, so that the supermarket had to absorb the cost of the bananas, freight and also Port Authority charges.

"I completely agree with what DoA are doing here. I don't want to see PHM on the Brac, but help me here! Don't make the retailers be the victims," she said.

Net News put Ms Tibbetts' concerns to Mr Crichlow, who gave his assurances that this situation would not reoccur, since the problem with the shipment of bananas had been identified and stopped.

While, strictly speaking, the wholesaler in question had followed the rules for the importation of bananas, the DoA had discovered that bananas imported from Belize had been stored at a farm on Grand Cayman before being taken to the wholesale warehouse.

Produce should be transported straight to the warehouse after it arrives from the US, and then straight back to the dock, if it is to be shipped to the Sister Islands. Because the bananas had gone to a local farm, they were considered contaminated.

When they are shipped, the bananas are stacked together, making the risk of infestation substantial, explained Mr Crichlow. Therefore, all the bananas, green and ripe, had had to be destroyed, even the ones that originated from the US.

It would take days to confirm whether mealybugs found on goods were PHM or another species, and during this time, the produce would have to remain at the dock where it would spoil and be a risk to further contamination.

Therefore, the DoA decided to destroy the whole batch of bananas on this occasion. However, because there was some separation between the bananas and the rest of the produce, they decided not to destroy the whole shipment.

Decisions were made on the basis of risk assessment, and it was a case of erring on the side of caution.

Because there Sister Islands are so far free of infestation, control levels are more stringent, he said.

nicky@caymannetnews.com