– official document to be submitted to AG by year-end

THE local fisheries product regulation is being upgraded once again to counter the ban imposed on local catfish by the United States (U.S).

The US Government through its Georgetown Embassy had said the ban on the import of Guyana’s catfish followed notification to the Government of Guyana of impending changes to the food safety regulations regarding fish and shrimp and many other fish products in the US.

In response to the changes, Guyana had submitted the requirements which were requested by the US, but the North American country responded with more requirements. “They apparently had more requirements but we are working on it…it is being done by the Veterinary Public Health Unit because the requirements relate to sanitary and processing measures,” said Chief Fisheries Office, Denzil Roberts in an invited comment on Wednesday.

He said the Veterinary Public Health Unit is working to regularise the fisheries product regulation, but the finished document would have to be part of the legal documents of the fisheries department of the Ministry of Agriculture.

“We are upgrading our fisheries product regulation and that would be incorporated into our laws…the document should be ready by the end of the year and taken to the Attorney General’s chambers to be deemed a legal document,” said Roberts, adding that having the ban lifted would still not be easy because the regulations in the US promote farm-reared catfish and Guyana’s catfish is wild-caught.

The fisheries department, however, intends on adopting the farm-rearing method in order to ensure that the local catfish is eligible for exports. Every year the local fish industry records about US$74 million in returns but with the ban in place, the industry is expected to lose out on about US$1.2 million to US$2 million.

“We still have markets in Canada and other places but we have a lot of Guyanese living in the US, but there is nothing we could do about it,” said Roberts. The US Government had notified the Government of Guyana of pending changes in November of 2015, more than 18 months before they were to go into effect. According to reports, the US Government even gave Guyana an extension until February 3, 2018, to comply with the new regulations.

The US Embassy said too that most countries in the hemisphere have since complied with the regulations and they were optimistic that Guyana eventually can and will comply as well. “We understand that the Government of Guyana is working on complying, but it has not fully met the standards of the new processes associated with the regulations and until it does, we cannot accept any catfish from Guyana,” said the US Government.

The US Government takes very seriously the protection of the world’s waterways and marine life and is constantly updating its regulations and processes to ensure that waterways and marine life are protected. They also aim to ensure consistency in food safety regulations across products and countries and to protect marine life for future generations; a goal it is confident is shared by all Guyanese.