Pushing Guyana to increase food exports through accreditation

Durrant Pate/Contributor

Jamaica is offering Guyana the utilisation of its accreditation services, which Senator Aubyn Hill, minister of industry, investment and commerce, declares are among the best in the region.

Hill, who is leading a Jamaican business and investment mission to the Caribbean/South American nation, is hoping to expand Jamaica’s presence in Guyana, believing it is an ideal development partner.

Hill, who spoke to the local Guyanese media on Wednesday (October 5), advised that Jamaica can push Guyanese exports in the United States and elsewhere.

How the country hopes to do that is by offering Jamaica’s accreditation services with the minister pointing out that Jamaica is only one of four countries in the world to have certification from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). With this, Guyanese products that are certified by Jamaica would not need further certification from the US, Hill told the local media.

Possible new partnership on food certification

Guyana’s rice and other food products have already benefitted from these services through the Jamaica National Accreditation Company, but Hill is pushing for a new partnership, which he argued could streamline the certification processes, easing the process of exporting food.

According to him: “We’re planning to have an arrangement with Guyana so that, as you produce more food, we provide the testing in partnership with a Guyanese company that we are going to work with to do the accrediting.”

He reasoned reasoned that Guyana and other Caribbean countries must think beyond exporting raw products and focus on developing agro-processing.

In this regard, Hill believes that Jamaica and Guyana can partner.

Aside from Hill’s statements, Diane Edwards, president of Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO), which is the island’s national investment and export promotion agency, told the media that further collaboration with Jamaica would prove advantages for Guyana’s export efforts since the Port of Kingston is on all international shipping lanes.

Expanding regional food production and boosting intra-regional trade is part of the Guyana-led agricultural plan within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). With these efforts, the regional bloc hopes to slash the Caribbean’s exorbitant food import bill by some 25 per cent, by 2025.

Hill said Jamaica was in full support of these efforts, particularly given the global price surges and food shortages emanating from the Ukraine-Russia crisis.

“Ukraine has taught us that you cannot be dependent or have your food dependent on countries that you are not even close to,” Hill said in concluding.