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Govt. to clamp down on food imports that can be produced locally
The Government of Guyana (GoG) intends “to break the back” of the excessive and unnecessary import of a range of food items and other products, which were either previously manufactured in Guyana, or which can be easily manufactured here.
This was according to the Minister of Finance Winston Jordan, during a recent engagement with the private sector in Georgetown.
The Minister said that Government’s intention would come against the background of mass importation of items – which have for years, raised eyebrows.
This publication earlier this year, would have published a series of articles under the heading; ‘Is Guyana’s manufacturing sector dying?’ which showed several items that were being imported including rice from Pakistan; tamarind balls and coconut water from Thailand; and packaged roti and dhal puri from Suriname.
The local manufacturing sector, as well as the government would have found itself in front of the barrel as questions began to surface about the health of our manufacturing sector and the will of the authorities.
At the regional level, actions are being taken to reduce the region’s food import bill. Research has shown that the food import bill of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has been rising and stands today at over US$4B (approximately $832.320B) annually.
A closer examination of Guyana’s food bill will show that for the year 2015, milk was the top imported food at a cost of US$27M (approximately $5.6B) for almost 10 million kilograms (KG).
This US$27M translates to a 55 percent increase in dairy imports over a five-year period. The government – from reports – has been taking steps to reduce this.
“The industry is stymied by the absence of adequate milk processing facilities. To this end, the construction of a modern milk processing plant is planned, capable of not only processing fresh milk but also reconstituting powered milk and blending fresh milk and the reconstituted milk into UHT (Ultra-high Temperature) milk and other products,” Agriculture Minister, Noel Holder said earlier this year.
Meanwhile, the plan to reduce Guyana’s food import bill would come against the backdrop of numerous challenges being faced by the private sector – the body which has an integral role to play in the intended reduction.
Several calls would have been made by the Private Sector in the past and most recently, for better infrastructure, cheaper power and more incentives.
Minister Jordan during his previous engagement with the Private Sector, has assured that a suite of reforms is underway. These will be in the form of legislations, policies and papers.
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