Latest update November 13th, 2024 1:00 AM
Gilbacker, other fish export ban…Guyana was notified of new requirements in 2015 – U.S. Spokesperson
Guyana was notified in November 2015 of the new requirements regulating the export of all Siluriformes fish and fish products (catfish species), says a United States (U.S.) Embassy spokesperson based in Georgetown.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has instituted a ban on catfish species from Guyana, inclusive of hassar, cuirass and gilbacker that took effect on March 1 after Guyana failed to comply with the new requirements.
Amanda Cauldwell, Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Georgetown told Kaieteur News that the U.S. notified the Government of Guyana of the pending changes in November of 2015, more than 18 months before they were to go into effect.
“We even gave Guyana an extension until February 3, 2018 to comply with the new regulations,” Cauldwell explained.
According to the embassy official, the U.S. offered technical assistance to the Government of Guyana to help fishermen and women to comply.
“Our offer still stands, but it cannot be accomplished overnight,” Cauldwell stated.
She pointed out that the U.S. Government takes very seriously the protection of the world’s waterways and marine life and is constantly updating regulations and processes to ensure that waterways and marine life are protected.
Guyanese hassar being sold at a supermarket in New York
Hassar being prepared for export at a local plant.
According to Cauldwell, most countries in the hemisphere have now complied with the regulations. She believes 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,” Cauldwell noted.
Chief Fisheries Officer, Denzil Roberts, told Kaieteur News that Guyana received notification from the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) some time ago.
He stated that the FSIS concluded that the local Siluriformes fish and fish products inspection system is not equivalent to the U.S. inspection system.
“This was determined after we, through the competent authority, the Veterinary Public Health Unit of the Ministry of Health, were unable to satisfy the requirements demanded by the USA,” Roberts stated.
According to industry sources, the decision affects over 90% of all fish exports to the U.S and over 70% of the overall fish export market.
The recent move is being seen by some as part of an overall plan by the U.S. to significantly reduce catfish imports, although Cauldwell stated that the goal is to ensure consistency in food safety regulations across products and countries and to protect marine life for future generations.
“This is a goal which we are sure all Guyanese share,” she stated.
The American catfish industry is concentrated in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas. These markets have been steadily losing share to imports predominately from Vietnam.
According to the New York Times, U.S. catfish industry became concerned since imports at one time accounted for about 75 % of the market.
U.S. catfish farmers approached the then Barack Obama administration to implement stricter rules to govern the industry.
Essentially, U.S. lawmakers agreed to shift the inspection of foreign and U.S. produced catfish from the FDA to a more rigorous programme at the USDA. This change became effective March 2016.
A Forbes publication characterised the shifting of the responsibility of the inspection agency as extreme financial waste that has been driven entirely by political posturing under the guise of food safety.
The USDA regulates meat, poultry and egg products, all things that have been traditionally considered to be high-risk foods through a costly process that typically involves some type of continuous inspection. The FDA, on the other hand, regulates all other types of food including all seafood through the use of a risk based approach to inspection.
This means that the FDA spends more time and money inspecting high-risk food versus low risk.
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