Agricultural officials on Tuesday rejected assertions that poultry farmers are being undercut by state-sanctioned imports, insisting that foreign supply remains strictly managed and data-driven to protect domestic producers.

​They were responding to James Paul, chief executive officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS), who criticised what he termed contradictory government policy. He argued that while the state provides assistance to expand poultry production, the state-owned agricultural corporation simultaneously permits imports of poultry and pork from regional and extra-regional sources.

He warned that increased imports are undercutting domestic producers at a time when both large and small domestic operations are expanding, contributing to a storage capacity crisis in which small farmers are struggling to sell their stock and facilities such as the BICO cold store are nearing capacity. Ownership changes at key storage facilities have created widespread fear among small farmers over potential fee increases, reduced profit margins, and possible business failure, he added.