Kingston, 19 October 2019 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has given the following statement on the use of national symbols and emblems on items for sale online.

Minister’s Statement

It has come to my attention that items of clothing printed with national symbols and emblems are being offered for sale online.

I noticed Kanye West and members of his choir wearing similarly emblazoned items during their special performance in Kingston last night, but I was not aware at the time that the costumes were being sold online.

We neither received a request for nor did we give permission for our national symbols and emblems to be used for a commercial manner or otherwise.

I have since requested that the items be withdrawn and the vendor has agreed to do so.

We are aware that other vendors are selling Jamaica branded products emblazoned with our national symbols and emblems. Several years ago, when I first served as Minister, I had set up a committee to review and devise a strategy for dealing with the proper use of our emblems and symbols. That work was stopped at the change of administrations. I have been granted permission to reestablish the committee and to continue the work. The membership of the committee with include representatives of the Office of the Prime Minister, the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office, the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport and others.

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