The recent acquisition of a critical technical accreditation capability from the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) by the Government Analyst-Food & Drug Department (GA-FDD) is a major achievement for Guyana, the proportions of which cannot be adequately measured through the publicity we give such an achievement through the media, Director of the (GA-FDD) Dr Marlan Cole has told the Stabroek Business.
“The challenge associated with giving adequate credit to the Department for this historic accreditation milestone is that because we are a very specialized agency with particular functions a great many people have less than a full understanding of what we do and how it relates to the country’s development. We are going to have to see the various practical ways in which this accreditation benefits Guyana. One of those that come easily to mind is the manner in which, over time, the goods of various types that we produce and export are going to acquire a significantly higher level of market confidence in other countries,” Cole explained to Stabroek Business earlier this week.
“Accomplishments like this one mean a great deal to us at the GA-FDD. They really do make us feel that as a state-run service agency we are making an all-round difference to the kind of country we are trying to build and to those institutions in both the public and private sector who are trying to win and to hold on to important markets in other countries,” Cole said. He added, “That is a challenge for us. We need to work to create a better public understanding that the critical role we play is not just consumer safety at home but in ensuring that what we produce and export is up to the standards required by importing countries. It is not just a question of making a public statement, saying that that the GA-FDD has accomplished this or that but also a matter of speaking to the significance of these accomplishments for Guyana.”
Last week the GA-FDD announced that it had, on September 18, acquired international accreditation of its Inspectorate Division. This status of International Standard Organization (ISO) 17020 achievement was conferred by A2LA.
ISO 17020 is concerned with, among other things, ensuring that inspection entities are independent and trusted and that their processes and procedures also address the integrity of the institution and its operatives.
Speaking with this newspaper earlier this week Cole said that the achievement was not just “an important safety and standards milestone for Guyana” but also “an attention-getter for the country” as associated mainly with quality assurance challenges arising chiefly out of what has, sometimes, been a profusion of sub-standard imports. The GA-FDD said last week that it had achieved the ISO17020 milestone following more than two years of preparation of its Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for inspection which had been undertaken between August 17 and 20 by A2LA.
During the exercise, inspection procedures and practical inspections were observed by the body after which only four (4) non-conformances (NCs) were identified at closure.
This latest accreditation for the GA-FDD comes against the backdrop the Agency being recently plagued by challenges associated with staff and technical resources. Two of its biggest recent challenges have been associated with monitoring the importation of fake goods and medicines and removing these from the distribution network and tracking compliance by vendors with national food hygiene and sanitation standards.
There has been no recent word on a timeline for the completion of the complex being created to house the GA-FDD.
Cole says that the GA-FDD’s new accreditation now affords it greater scope in areas such as inspection, sampling and product destruction for foods, drugs cosmetics and medical devices.
Meanwhile, following on this development, the GA-FDD Director told Stabroek Business that the agency will be making representation to the authorities for the country’s 1977 Food & Drugs Act and its attendant provisions to be revised. Cole says that financial provision has been made to move in this direction through an allocation in the 2020 national budget.
