More stringent monitoring of imported goods needed

Mar 15, 2010 News

– GCCI president

Although Guyana is in need of foreign investment, there exists the possibility that consumers may suffer ill consequences as a result of less than adequate regulations and monitoring of resources with regards to quality assurance of imported goods.
These concerns have been raised by the members of the business community.
According to Mr. Chandradat Chintamani, President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) who was commenting on the increased presence of Chinese wholesale and retail businesses both in Georgetown and around the country.
“We may not have the right regulations in place to enforce quality control, so, now may be the appropriate time to invest in training and building our capacity and regulations so that we can start enforcing standards of what we believe to be the correct products for our market. Once we allow the explosion to take place it becomes a huge challenge to control it thereafter.”
The United States is currently recalling cars under the Toyota flag, but not too long ago the authorities in the country were issuing recalls for less loftier items. Millions of toys that were tainted with lead or were otherwise hazardous to children created an enormous problem as Americans moved to have the items returned and their money refunded for what they perceived as substandard products.
After the recall, the items were supposed to be destroyed in accordance with safe environmental practices but there are also indications that a portion of these items were returned to the manufacturers and were subsequently resold to more ‘accommodating’ markets – countries where the checks were not as stringent as those in the United States or where the resources do not stretch as far as they need to.
Yet in the United States, where the safety standards are much more rigorously adhered to than in other places and where the consumer protection agencies have more funding and better equipment, the issue of product safety and quality is still a major concern. In February 2010 alone, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (US CPSC) recalled several million product units of everything ranging from children’s toys and jewellery to clothing and house wares, coming from manufacturers in Canada and many other countries, even the United States itself.
How much more so in a country like Guyana where the safety inspectors are already overtaxed by the sheer volume and variety of goods entering the country from manufacturers all across the globe, as well as those smuggled goods which never get inspected, since the purveyors are intent on avoiding import taxation.

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More stringent monitoring of imported goods needed

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