Director of the Government Analyst-Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD), Marlon Cole, says the department is gearing up to engage local importers about the form of certification they are required to have to import food into Guyana and the international agencies the certification must be sourced from.
Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday, Cole said that entities importing food items from Canada must now show evidence that the goods have been approved by the Canada Food Importation Agency (CFIA). He said that previously, some persons sought to obtain permission from the Canadian Agro Processors Association. This is not acceptable, he said.
He also told this newspaper that importers looking to import goods through Florida, in the United States of America (USA), must show evidence of certification from the Florida Department of Health or the Food and Drug Administration.
He also mentioned that importers will be informed of the relevant agencies in others states which the GA-FDD recognise as being competent to grant certificates after inspections.
These measures stem from a recent discovery of substandard food items which were accompanied by documentation purported to be issued from a Canadian agency.
On November 7th, 2019, Stabroek News reported that the GA-FDD had denied entry to four containers of food items which were imported by Faizal Asif Iqbal Alli, a local businessman, from Canada.
Cole had called on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to exercise greater vigilance in granting certificates, as the containers were accompanied by certification, purported to be from this agency. However, on November 13th, 2019, Stabroek News reported that the CFIA denied involvement in certifying the goods in the containers which were denied entry. In a statement to Stabroek News, the agency had said “The CFIA investigated and can confirm that the certificate was not issued by the CFIA”.
The CFIA had also said that “the Canadian company identified on the certificate is not licensed by the CFIA, and is not authorized to receive export certificates from the CFIA”.
The agency had also said that the document which accompanied the shipment is a Manufacturer’s Dec-laration which CFIA stopped using as of January 15, 2019, and that the inspector who signed the certificate is not employed with it.
Most importantly, the GA-FDD did not detect the faulty certification on its own, giving rise to questions as to whether containers permitted to enter Guyana in the past were also accompanied by invalid certification not detected by the GA-FDD. Furthermore, there are legitimate concerns as to whether the entity will be able to detect any invalid certification in the future.
Asked yesterday about the GA-FDD’s plans to bolster its ability to detect faulty certificates and other such documents, Cole mentioned that the department will be working with the relevant entities to ensure enhanced verification processes, but provided no details as to what components such an initiative would include.
