The Ministry Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Ministry of Agriculture said it was made aware of an incident which occurred Wednesday related to the nonacceptance of dairy products produced by one of the country’s largest producers of dairy products which was destined for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
In a release the ministry under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, the implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) to which both Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana subscribe, requires free movement of goods and services under the regional integration framework.
According to the ministry, the refusal of entry to the dairy products wholly produced in Guyana by CARICOM member state is an affront to the spirit of Caribbean integration agenda and must not be accepted. It is appreciated that regional products must satisfy the necessary sanitary and phytosanitary rules, the technical regulations as well as any product specific rules of origin required to qualify the products for regional preferential treatment.
The government said available information indicates that the dairy products from Guyana destined into Trinidad and Tobago were in full compliance with these requirements.
Reportedly while some details about the transaction and what led to the incident are still being discussed, the Guyana Livestock Development Agency (GLDA) is said to be in close contact with its counterparts in Trinidad and Tobago, the exporter and the importer to resolve this matter within the shortest possible time.
The government said Guyana remains committed to ensuring that nationals who wish to exercise or take advantage of rights granted by the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and other regional protocol under the integration agenda, are not unduly restricted. Instructively Guyana does not apply this principle to Haitians who continue to face visa restriction under the Irfaan Ali government.
Guyana has opened its market to regional producers, it is expected that market access for products from Guyana into any CARICOM country is guaranteed for full benefits of regional integration to be realised.
