Alesie rice exports to be subjected to 100 per cent inspectionsA MANDATE held by the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) to undertake random spot checks, as well as 100 per cent inspections, of rice exports by local millers will be enforced after Chile rejected a rice shipment from Guyana last month.
Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy made the disclosure yesterday when asked during a press conference held yesterday at Freedom House, Robb Street.
Embattled Turhane Doerga’s ‘Alesie’ rice, some 71,000 tonnes, was sent to the Chilean company, CABAGAN, Sociedad Distribuidora de Produtos, but was rejected after “pests, wood chippings and stones” were discovered in the shipment.
The South American country also lodged an official complaint with the GRDB.
According to the Agriculture Minster, the debacle had jeopardized the Chilean market and brings into question Guyana’s reliability as an exporter of high-quality rice.
He stated that Doerga has since been offered options to dispose of the contaminated rice shipment by Chilean rice authorities.
“Rice markets are fragile,” Dr Ramsammy stressed, underscoring the Doerga’s double standard in using the political opposition’s platform to argue that enough is not being done to secure new rice markets one hand and jeopardizing the markets that have been secured on the other.
The Agriculture Minister committed to ensuring that efforts are made to repair trade relations with Chile.
NEW EXPORT RECORD
Guyana currently exports rice to some 33 countries, including several countries in the Caribbean. Moreover, given the continuous success of the rice industry, efforts are being made to secure a greater foothold in Nicaragua and other Central American countries, including Belize and Panama. Additionally, markets in West Africa are being courted, while export agreements with Venezuela were recently renewed for 2015.
According to Dr Ramsammy, 2015 is shaping up to be another record breaking year for the rice industry, given that for rice exports for the first quarter have surpassed historical first quarter exports.
To this end, he expressed the view that the 2015 export target, which has been set at 514,000 tonnes, is likely to be surpassed.
The target for rice production is 618,000 tonnes. Last year was another record-breaking year for the rice industry. Production was recorded at 635,238 tonnes, of which 501,208 tonnes were exported.
The rice industry remains important to Guyana’s economy, considering its contribution in terms of employment and contributions to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

(Vanessa Narine)