Improved cooperation between the Government Analyst-Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD) and the Customs Department of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has significantly increased the documentation available to the GA-FDD for scrutiny from 3000 in 2018 to over 5000 in 2019.
This is according to Dr. Marlon Cole, Director of GA-FDD, who recently explained that the documents are in relation to drugs, cosmetics, and medical supplies. They do not, Cole said, pertain to food items. With increased access to the documentation accompanying these goods, Cole said, the GA-FDD is in a better place to ensure that substandard goods in those categories do not go into circulation in Guyana.
Improved system
The access to additional documentation has been made possible by the Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA) Window which was implemented into GRA’s operations last year. ASYCUDA is software which, among others, facilitates electronic access to, and examination of, via a single window, documents pertaining to the business it regulates.
This access can also be availed to entities with an interest in imports, and which are authorised access to documentation. Cole said that the GA-FDD is one such entity.
“Because it is an electronic system it cannot be bypassed. You have to do the release electronically. But that is only done when they peruse documentation,” Cole boasted of the technology.
Joint searches
The process of checking containers flagged by the GA-FDD has also been altered to allow for greater efficiency of operations.
Cole explained that previously, containers which the GA-FDD expressed an interest in could only pass a port of entry after it was inspected. This usually took some time, and resulted in importers suffering demurrage charges in some cases.
He explained that to free importers from these charges, a system was implemented which saw containers flagged by GA-FDD sent to a warehouse to await inspection. However, he said that customs officers would often reach the containers first, and carry out inspections for the payment of the relevant revenue. Once this check was completed, he shared, the container was released, so that by the time the GA-FDD arrived to carry out its inspection, the container would already be gone.
“The minister would have gotten customs and GA-FDD to work closely and this has resulted in customs releasing a container and having a seal on it. That seal remains there until there is examination by both Customs, and Food and Drugs staff before the owner touches the containers,” Cole said, explaining the solution implemented.
He said that this system was implemented in December 2019, just before Christmas.
Cole credits this system for the bust last year of four containers whose contents contained substandard food items. The expiration dates on some of the goods were also tampered with and the shipment was accompanied by a certificate purported to be issued by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). The agency later said that it did not issue the certificate.
What Cole had referred to as a breakdown in the partnership saw two of the four containers released, and its contents put into circulation. Cole and his team was able to recover some of the goods, but many were never recovered, meaning that at least some were likely consumed.
Cole said no further such discoveries have been made.
