TASTEE has been given the go-ahead to export patties to all Caricom member states after meeting the regional body’s sanitary requirements.

Tastee made the announcement in a press release yesterday, saying that Caricom made the decision at a meeting held on February 8-9, 2010, acting upon recommendations of its Sanitary Evaluation Team, which visited the Tastee site in Jamaica and declared that its beef and chicken patties were fit for export througout the region.

“This means that Tastee has become the first and only patty-manufacturing company in Jamaica to achieve this feat thus keeping Jamaica’s product strong by entering other countries,” said Tastee in the release, adding: “The standard by which patties have been judged by Jamaicans since 1966, Tastee has again taken the lead and will continue to diligently preserve its strong and solid reputation while maintaining the best quality available to consumers.”

The decision cleared a huge hurdle for Tastee which had prevented it from exporting its signature product to the wider Caribbean.

Trinidad last year blocked patties from being exported there because of concerns it raised about sanitary standards. The issue caused a trade dispute between Jamaica and Trinidad which resulted in public debate on the state of intraregional trade and the objectives of the Caribbean Community Single Market.

However, clearance was given to export the product to Trinidad following the completion of a report carried out by a Caricom’s Sanitary and Phytosanitary Inspection Team, which conducted an inspection of the product and the general environment and conditions under which it would be prepared.