Coffee dealers who want to sell their products under the Jamaica Blue Mountain or Jamaica High Mountain brands, must under new regulations enter into a trademark agreement with the Coffee Industry Board (CIB) for US$2,500 (J$222,500).
There are also new requirements for record keeping by all coffee producers and dealers, and the filing of audited accounts each year, delivered to the CIB within 90 days of the close of the financial year.
But the much harder part is that each coffee farm must deliver a provable minimum 6,000 boxes of cherry per crop year to qualify for a dealer's licence, which some producers say is too onerous a condition and will squeeze small farmers from the market.
To them, head of the CIB Christopher Gentles has a simple message: toughen up.
"New dealers need to know what they are getting into. Coffee production is a fragile operation," Gentles said.
The board is rolling out a programme of reform that addresses quality, and licensing and registration of producers/ dealers and their products. Gentles and his team have stepped up the policing of coffee imported and distributed, the products sold from grocery shelves, as well as thecoffee exported to world markets - all of which must be licensed to ensure that quality is maintained and the equity in the brands are not diluted.
The dealers with whom the board has had several workshops and site visits, have until July 31, 2011 to restructure operations to satisfy the new requirements for licensing.
Dorienne Rowan-Campbell, a small producer of organically grown Blue Mountain coffee, to get around the volume requirement, says she is negotiating a special licence with CIB for the small quantities of beans she roasts, for export to Europe - similar to a special licence granted to about five 'specialty coffee' dealers.
But Rowan-Campbell sees the new licensing programme as a plus for the industry, as does Gordon Langford of RSW Estates, who said it would help reduce counterfeiting and theft.
Unaware of new fee
Langford, whose current licence expires July 31, said he was unaware of the new US$2,500 fee, but was much more concerned that the 6,000 box requirement would force him to cobble purchase deals and compromise the quality coffee he produces.
The new regime will require production of 60,000 pounds of cherry, with each box holding 10 pounds, but Langford said it far exceeds last year's output of 23,100 pounds of cherry, or 150 barrels each holding 154 pounds.
Gentles says the new guidelines are designed to reduce the "incompetent short-term trader mentality" that has influenced the culture in the purchasing of cherry coffee in the past.
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