The Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Mining (the Ministry) recognises the importance of protecting your privacy and personal information. The Ministry respects your right to privacy and complies with Jamaica’s Data Protection Act (the Act) in relation to handling your personal information.
This Privacy Policy tells you:

• The kinds of personal information the Ministry may collect and hold about you;
• How the Ministry may collect, use, store and disclose your personal information, and for what purpose; and
• Your rights under the Act.

To provide our services and fulfil our regulatory duties, the Ministry may collect the following types of personal data:

• Identification Data: Includes full name, date of birth, national identification number, passport number, and driver’s license number.
• Contact Information: Residential and business addresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers for communications.
• Demographic Data: Age, gender, and other demographic details.
• Professional and Occupational Information: Information about your role or occupation and registration numbers for licensing and compliance.
• Financial Information: Bank account details, income information, and tax data.
• Property and Land Information: Information on land ownership, leases, or permits.
• Educational and Training Records: Details about previous certifications or training.
• Health and Safety Data: Data relevant to compliance with health and environmental standards.
• Compliance and Regulatory Information: Licensing status, compliance history, and previous inspections for regulatory purposes.

The Ministry collects and processes personal data to fulfil its statutory and public service mandates effectively. The primary purposes include:

• Eligibility Verification: To verify your identity, qualifications, and compliance with eligibility requirements for receiving grants, subsidies, licenses, land allocations, or financial incentives. This ensures that only qualified individuals and entities access these public resources.
• Provision of Agricultural, Fisheries, and Mining Support Services:
  • Technical Assistance: For providing guidance on sustainable practices, crop management, pest control, and soil fertility improvements.
  • Financial Aid and Incentives: Processing applications for grants, loans, subsidies, and other forms of financial support offered by the Ministry to foster growth in these sectors.
  • Production and Development Programmes: Supporting initiatives such as the Production Incentive Programme and aquaculture support to improve productivity and resource use.
• Training and Capacity Building: To facilitate your participation in workshops, seminars, and extension services. This data allows us to tailor programs to your professional needs, manage attendance, and provide you with certification where applicable.
• Regulation and Compliance Monitoring: Ensuring compliance with legal and environmental standards within the agriculture, fisheries, and mining sectors. This includes:
  • Conducting inspections, audits, and enforcement actions when necessary.
  • Monitoring compliance with safety protocols, sustainable practices, and land use requirements.
  • Tracking compliance history and license status for regulated activities.
• Health and Safety Oversight: Collecting data relevant to health and safety standards for high-risk activities. This enables the Ministry to monitor adherence to required safety protocols, thereby protecting public health and environmental integrity.
• Resource Management and Conservation Efforts:
  • Managing Jamaica's natural resources by overseeing sustainable fishing practices, promoting conservation, and monitoring marine resources.
  • Facilitating land use planning and managing land allocations to prevent environmental degradation and ensure sustainable agricultural practices.
• Communication and Updates: Using contact information to communicate essential updates, policy changes, program announcements, and service adjustments. This keeps stakeholders informed of critical information affecting their grants, licenses, and regulatory requirements.
• Program Evaluation and Service Improvement: Analysing demographic data, compliance records, and user feedback to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of our services. This data supports program improvements and helps us better meet the evolving needs of Jamaica’s agricultural, fisheries, and mining sectors.
• Legal and Statutory Requirements: Meeting regulatory obligations under various Laws.

The Ministry processes personal data based on the following legal bases as outlined under the Jamaican Data Protection Act:

• Compliance with Legal Obligations: The Ministry collects and processes personal data to fulfil its statutory and regulatory duties under Jamaican law. Various legislative acts empower the Ministry to administer and regulate the agriculture, fisheries, and mining sectors.
• Consent: In specific cases, the Ministry may seek your consent to process your personal data. For example, if we collect data beyond what is required by law or for purposes not covered by public interest or legal obligation, we will ask for your explicit consent. You have the right to withdraw this consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.
• Legitimate Interest: In certain cases, the Ministry may rely on legitimate interests to process personal data. We only use this legal basis when processing is necessary to support the Ministry’s functions in ways that do not override your fundamental rights and freedoms.

Under various laws governing the Ministry's operations, providing certain personal information is mandatory. These laws include, but are not limited to, the Plant Quarantine Act, Agricultural Produce Act, Protection of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture Act etc. Failure to provide this mandatory information has significant consequences:

• We cannot process your applications for licenses or permits,
• You may become ineligible for grants or financial support,
• Your operations may not receive compliance approval, and
• You may be unable to access certain Ministry services.

These requirements exist to ensure public safety, maintain industry standards, and protect Jamaica's agricultural, fishing, and mining resources. Please note that these are just examples of the many laws under which we operate, and additional information requirements may apply depending on your specific activities within these sectors.

The Ministry will generally collect personal information directly from you. This may include:

• During your conversations with the Ministry or its representatives via telephone or in person;
• Through your written correspondence, including email and post;
• When you submit an application, survey or form, in hard copy or electronically.
• When you access and use the Ministry’s website.

We may also collect personal data from Third Parties as follows:

• You consent;
• Persons who are authorised to act on your behalf;
• Other government agencies or entities;
• The collection is required or authorised under law, or a court order.

The Ministry may share your personal information with various organizations to fulfil our service obligations and legal requirements. These include:

• Other government Ministry’s and regulators.
• Law enforcement agencies
• External auditors, inspectors, technical consultants, service providers etc.

We only share your information in specific circumstances:

• When required by law,
• When necessary to provide our services,
• When you have given us explicit permission, or
• When it serves a clear public interest.

All information sharing is conducted in accordance with data protection laws and with appropriate safeguards in place.

The Ministry maintains appropriate technical and organizational security measures designed to protect your Personal Data against accidental, unlawful or unauthorized destruction, loss, alteration, access, disclosure or use. All our employees and contractual partners are bound by confidentiality and may only process your Personal Data based on the "need-to-know" principle.

The Ministry complies with the government’s Retention Schedule in relation to the retention and destruction of records containing personal data.

To the extent permitted by the Act you have the following rights:

• Access the Personal Data we hold about you, including information such as, for example, the source and the categories of the data, the purposes of the processing, the recipients (or categories thereof) and the respective retention period;
• Request the update or correction of your Personal Data so that it is always accurate;
• Request the deletion of your Personal Data if it is no longer needed for the purposes indicated above;
• Restrict the processing of your Personal Data in certain circumstances, for example, where you have contested the accuracy of your Personal Data, for the period enabling us to verify its accuracy;
• Withdraw your consent at any time where your Personal Data is processed with your consent, without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.
• Object to the processing of your personal data on specific grounds relating to your particular situation.

You may exercise these rights by sending a request to the contact details set out below. If you believe we have not complied with our obligations under the Act and regulations, you may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Information Commissioner.

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Notice, please contact the Ministry’s Data Protection Officer at dataprotection@moa.gov.jm. You also have the right to lodge any complaints or concerns with the Office of the Information Commissioner.

We regularly review this General Privacy Notice. When there is an important change that will have a relevant impact on the processing of your Personal Data, we will inform you via a notification on our website, via e-mail or similar means. This General Privacy Notice was last updated on January 31, 2025.