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No ban on produce from Suriname but Guyana will guard against pests, diseases – Agri. Minister

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By Kurt Campbell

Kurt@newsroom.gy

Guyana continues to confront the issue of smuggling across the Corentyne River through its shared border with Suriname but vigilance from local regulatory bodies at sanctioned ports of entry are reinforcing established mechanisms.

It comes at the expense of complaints from the business community in the neighbouring country that there is a supposed ban on the importation of fruits, vegetables and other produce.

But Guyana is rubbishing these claims, noting that in 2021, the two states, represented by Guyana’s Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha and Suriname’s Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Parmanand Sewdien, signed the protocol agreement concerning the Trade in Fresh Agricultural Produce.

Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha (Photo: DPI/January 31, 2023)

The terms and conditions of that very agreement relate only to commercial shipments of agricultural produce. Its focus is on the local and organic production of fresh produce by providing guidelines with respect to conditions under which they will be produced, stored in pack houses and eventually packaged and transported to each country.

Efforts are being made to ensure international obligations, standards and guidelines are met, which relate to the production, certification, processing, packaging, storing and transporting of agricultural produce between the two countries.

And this is the crux of the issue that has resulted in emotional comments from the business community in Suriname.

“We didn’t stop anything.

“Some people go across there and smuggle bananas and things like that and flood the local markets and then we have our farmers complaining.

“Customs is taking steps now to stop uncustomed things from coming in,” Minister Mustapha told the News Room on Wednesday.

He said persons intent on legally bringing produce into Guyana must ensure they have the proper certification and follow the established mechanisms.

Some of those mechanisms are set up to prevent the importation of pests and diseases which are of major concern to Guyanese authorities.

Mustapha said he personally asked the National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) and the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) to be vigilant.

“I told them to be careful. We can’t give permit to bring in these things when local farmers suffer to sell their produce. That’s the situation, there is no ban on anything. People not following the mechanism and we have made a lot of success in working to get rid of pests and diseases,” the Agriculture Minister added.

According to reports in the Surinamese press, exporters in Paramaribo have been unable to send their produce to Guyana for a few months now. The Surinamese government is hoping to resolve whatever issues exist.

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