SPANISH TOWN, St Catherine – Fifteen of 22 vendors who were arrested and charged for transporting agricultural produce without the required receipts last week, pleaded guilty and were each fined $2,000 or 10 days’ imprisonment when they appeared before the Spanish Town Resident Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Senior Resident Magistrate Lorna Errar-Gayle ordered that the remaining seven persons be issued with warrants for their arrest after they failed to attend Thursday’s hearing. The driver of the truck in which all 22 were travelling, 63-year-old Kenute Spence of Ewarton, St Catherine, had his case withdrawn after he told the court that he was only using his vehicle to transport the vendors to the market.

“Before you put their (vendors) basket in your truck you must first look at their receipts,” Errar-Gayle warned before letting him go.

The accused were all charged for breaches of the Agricultural Produce Act after they were found in possession of the goods but failed to produce proof of purchase from the Jamaica Agricultural Society.

The Agricultural Produce Act was passed in Parliament in 2004 to eliminate incidents of praedial larceny, which is said to cost farmers millions of dollars yearly. The law requires that farmers be registered and bars persons from transporting goods whether on “water, on any water, highway or public road” without the receipt bearing the JAS stamp.

Maximum penalty for farmers who fail to issue receipts to purchasers is $250,000.

On Thursday, Errar-Gayle warned produce vendors to ensure they get the required receipts from wherever their goods are sourced.