In the wake of last week’s disclosure by the Government Analyst Food and Drugs Department that a brand of evaporated milk imported into Guyana had been (apparently deliberately) mislabeled and that its vegetable content was harmful to young children, Stabroek Business has been informed that the continued proliferation of various brands of imported foods and other items by local distributors is placing the regulatory agency under increasing monitoring pressure and that some brands are finding their way onto the local market without complying with the importation-related regulations.
FDD Director Marlon Cole had suggested in a conversation with this newspaper that the mislabeling of milk products was nothing new and that it had been linked to international profiteering rackets in which manufacturers sought to gain from targeting particular countries with cheaper milk products boasting nutrition-related ingredients which they did not have. Stabroek Business understands that some of these milk products were indeed finding their way into Guyana and last week we reported that some brands of milk that had been imported into Guyana had come under the FDD’s radar. Cole has repeatedly said that weak institutional oversight, including port of entry inspection limitations rendered Guyana vulnerable to suspect imports.
As of earlier this week the department was still holding another consignment of questionable milk at a city wharf whilst yet another brand already on supermarket shelves was being investigated.
Earlier this week, a report in another section of the media asserted that the Food and Drug Department was impeding business houses in their quest to place some imported food products on the market though Stabroek Business understands that the real problem might be that some imports are failing to meet the national requirements relating to the importation of such goods.
Regulations relating to the release of imported food items on the local market dictate that these must be accompanied by documentation which includes a Free Sale Certificate or a Health Certificate and /or a Certificate of Analysis.
The Free Sale or Health Certificate must be issued by the National Regulatory Authority or Agency from the Country of Origin. The Certificate of Analysis can be issued by an independent laboratory or that of the manufacturer.
The Laws of Guyana Chapter 34:03, Section 32 (2) and Regulation 10 of 1977 part 13 states, “Except as provided by the regulations, no article of food, drug, cosmetic or device shall be imported into Guyana unless the article wholly conforms to the laws of the country in which it was manufactured or produced and is accompanied by a certificate in prescribed form and manner that the article does not contravene any known requirement of the law of that country and that its sale therein would not constitute a contravention of the law thereof .”
This newspaper understands that attempts to place imported goods on the local market without the requisite certification has become a regular occurrence and that once the goods arrive in the country the Food and Drugs Department then comes under pressure to approve their placement on the market.
This week, Cole declined to comment on what he said were matters between the department and importers though a well-placed source in the Public Health Ministry told this newspaper that it had become “a common occurrence” for Cole to be put under “pressure from higher up” to waive the “paperwork” and allow the imports onto the market. The source told Stabroek Business that one such case had occurred “as recently as this week” following the media report charging that the Food and Drug Administration had been disallowing the admission of some goods onto the market thereby causing importers to lose “millions of dollars.”
When Stabroek Business sought a comment from the Public Health Ministry earlier this week we were told that the minister was out of the country and the Permanent Secretary was “in a meeting.”
