THE Government of Guyana and the business community, particularly importers and manufacturers, have reached a compromise pertaining to an issue surrounding the importation of goods from the state of Florida, United States of America (USA), which has plagued the business community for the past five years.
This was according to Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, S.C, who was at the time speaking on the sidelines of a consultation with stakeholders to hear their concerns, at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal, on Tuesday.
The issue at hand stemmed from the Guyana Government Analyst Food and Drug Department’s (GA-FDD’s) refusal to accept certificates of free sale issued by Enterprise Florida, Inc. (EFI), a non-profit, public/private entity which certifies products for exports on behalf of the Florida Department of Health and the Florida Department of Agriculture.

The GA-FDD has insisted on a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) certification for such goods; however, the FDA’s certificate is no longer issued in respect of goods exported from Florida, and that function is now performed by Enterprise Florida Inc.
“Unfortunately, our food and drugs department has difficulties with that process. They feel that the quality control is not there with the Florida Enterprise Certificate, that there is no warranty of the suitability of the goods certified by that agency for export and as a result they have not been accepting foods certified by that agency for importation into Guyana and that has caused repeated problems,” Nandlall said.

SOLUTION
He explained that the solution agreed to is that the FDA certificate will be required for goods that are imported by an authorised distributorship, since the distributors incur no difficulty in obtaining that particular certificate, and the importation of those goods will be done solely by those authorised distributors.
Further, in relation to goods that are not the subject of distributorship, the Government of Guyana and GA-FDD will accept the certificates of free sale issued by Enterprise Florida, Inc. The Attorney-General noted that accepting the certificates of free sale issued by Enterprise Florida, Inc. is normal, since the certificates are widely accepted by many counties in the Caribbean. It is for this reason that Guyana will not be unique in accepting that documentation.
He explained that the Government of Guyana is committed to hassle free trade, ensuring that the business community flourishes and that Guyanese consumers are able to enjoy the widest variety of goods, while maintaining quality control for the importation of goods into Guyana, especially food products.

“So we have to strike that balance of competing interests, one you don’t want to make Guyana a dumping ground and at the same time you want to facilitate free trade as possible and those were the guiding principles that inspired the discussions,” he said. Also present at the consultations were the Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond; Advisor to the Ministry of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, and others, who were tasked with the responsibility by Cabinet to conduct the engagement and derive a solution. Given that a compromise was successfully arrived at between the stakeholders and the Government, the recommendation on the way forward will now be taken to Cabinet for approval and implementation.

“In the interregnum, we have agreed to a date from now to May 1, all goods that are enroute will be accepted using the Enterprise Florida Certificate until we concretise this decision and we implement it,” Nandlall said. The Attorney-General, in February, 2021, had met with Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), Zulfikar Ally; AmCham’s Economist, Stephen Kissoon, and the United States Embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission, Mark Cullinane and Economic/Commercial Officer, Benjamin Hulefeld, on the matter. During that meeting, Nandlall had reiterated Guyana’s commitment to free trade and market economy, subject of course to obligations established under various treaties. He had also cautioned that the government and the state apparatus must remain vigilant to protect Guyana from “dumping”, a problem facing countries all over the globe.