With domestic food security continuing to be a matter of the highest national priority, the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) says that the protection of the country’s agricultural sector from the introduction of imported pests and diseases continues to the focus of the National Plant Protection Organization. (NPPO)
Information made available to this newspaper indicates that the NPPO is aggressively supported by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) in ensuring that importers comply fully with the national regulations pertaining to the importation of plants including the completion of relevant and supporting documents that enable verification of the safety and wholesomeness of imports.
NAREI says that a key element of the import procedure pertains to ensuring the documents are tendered and scrupulously examined by the NPPO prior to importation of commodities. Import inspections, according to the Institute are carried out by the NPPO with the specific objective of verifying the conformity of the imports with local phytosanitary requirements in order to prevent the entry and spread of pests.