The Head of the Government Analyst Department, Marlan Cole said on Friday that it is not possible for his department to verify the authenticity of documents from foreign authorities by making contact with them each time a container arrives.
However, he said that the certification documents of each authority bears certain indicators which the Department is familiar with, and checks for.
This matter continues to be of public importance as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) recently said that a dubious certificate which accompanied a recent shipment from Canada had not been issued by it. That shipment was imported by Faizal Asif Iqbal Alli and contained food items which the Government Analyst-Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD) said were substandard.
This development raised concerns that the GA-FDD could be easily fooled by inauthentic documentation accompanying food shipments.
Still, Cole says that the each foreign regulator has a standard form which the Department is familiar with, which form bears certain distinguishing features, which Department operatives have been trained to identify.
He also said that in the case of a change in a foreign regulating agency, the Department is informed by the entity through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Commerce.
In the 27th November issue of Stabroek News, Cole shared that the Department was 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.
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.
On November 7th, 2019, Stabroek News reported that the GA-FDD had denied entry to four containers of food items which were imported by Alli, a local businessman, from Canada.
Initially, Alli had suggested that a lawsuit could follow Cole’s statements, but walked back on that likelihood after the CFIA had indicated that the certificate which accompanied Alli’s goods were not issued by that entity.
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 Declaration which CFIA stopped using as of January 15, 2019, and that the inspector who signed the certificate is not employed with it.
