THE Fair Trading Commission (FTC) says it is now investigating conduct in the rum market following claims by National Rums of Jamaica (NRJ) that it is facing anti-competitive practices from the other players, including J Wray & Nephew.

NRJ made the application in January for the FTC to look into the matter and to “assess damages due to the complainant”. This follows a pivotal ruling last year from the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO), which sided with other rum producers in a long-running battle over what makes Jamaican rum truly Jamaican.

“The FTC has initiated a formal investigation into allegations brought by National Rums of Jamaica (NRJ) against players in the Jamaican rum industry,” the FTC said in its quarterly newsletter released last Thursday.

“At the centre of the inquiry are claims that the Spirits Pool Association Limited (SPA), a statutory body, along with J Wray & Nephew Limited (JWN), Everglades Farms, and Worthy Park Estate, have engaged in conduct that may harm competition in the market,” the FTC stated without elaborating.

Efforts to ascertain the progress of the investigation so far proved futile. Calls to the FTC went unanswered and Jamaica Observer did not receive replies to e-mail sent to the competitions agency.

The roots of the dispute trace back to October 2024, when JIPO ruled that only rum aged and blended in Jamaica could legally carry the “Jamaica Rum” label. This decision, championed by the SPA — which represents most of the island’s major distilleries — was the culmination of nearly a decade of industry lobbying and research.

The new rules set strict criteria – rum must be made in Jamaica using local limestone-filtered water, aged in small wooden barrels, and produced from sugar cane substrates using copper stills. Most critically, ageing outside Jamaica is now forbidden.

For SPA and its supporters, the move was about protecting the island’s rum heritage and securing global recognition in key export markets like the US and EU.

“Permitting foreign ageing under the ‘Jamaica Rum’ label would erode this distinctiveness,” SPA Chairman Clement “Jimmy” Lawrence argued in a Business Observer article last year, warning that it could open the door to imitation products and dilute the brand’s value.

But for NRJ — a company with government, Guyanese, and Barbadian shareholders — the ruling struck at the heart of its business. NRJ’s model relies on exporting bulk rum for ageing and branding overseas, a practice now outlawed. NRJ contends that Jamaica has a long history of exporting rum for overseas ageing and that the new restrictions not only threaten its survival but also unfairly limit competition in the market.

In its complaint to the FTC, NRJ alleges that SPA and its major members, including J Wray & Nephew, have abused their dominance, engaged in price fixing, and conspired to restrict competition by enforcing the new geographic indicator (GI) rules. NRJ claims J Wray & Nephew controls more than half the island’s crop volume and holds the largest stock of aged rum, giving it outsized influence both locally and abroad.

“The application of a GI must operate in the context of fair competition and should not be used as a device to restrict competition or to fortify market dominance,” NRJ stated in its submission.

NRJ also raised concerns about the governance of the GI, questioning whether the rules were crafted to benefit certain producers at the expense of others, and called for the FTC to investigate and assess damages.

SPA and its allies have pushed back hard, arguing that the GI is essential for protecting the authenticity and reputation of Jamaican rum. They maintain that ageing and bottling the spirit overseas shifts value and jobs away from Jamaica and undermines the product’s unique character.

With the FTC investigation now underway, and a Supreme Court hearing on NRJ’s appeal of the JIPO ruling scheduled for later this year, the outcome could reshape the future of Jamaica’s iconic rum industry.

For now, the island’s rum makers — and rum lovers worldwide — are watching closely as regulators and judges weigh tradition, competition, and the global future of Jamaica’s most famous spirit.