Minister Mustapha engages Chilean delegation to improve legislation and operation for Guyana Food Safety Authority

Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha today met with a delegation from the Chilean Embassy to discuss how the two nations can collaborate to advance the operations of the Guyana Food Safety Authority (GFSA).

The Food Safety Bill which intended to integrate all aspects of Guyana’s food safety system was first read in 2016 and was later passed in 2018 with amendments following the adoption of the report of the Special Select Committee on the said Bill. The passage of this Bill later made way for the establishment of the GFSA in 2019.

Even with the passage of the Bill and the establishment of the GFSA, the previous government failed to fully ensure the Authority fulfills its mandate, which is to implement systems to introduce and reinforce cautionary and solution-oriented methods and stipulations that have been prescribed by international bodies such as the World Health Organization, European Union, and the Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA).

During the meeting, Minister Mustapha explained that since the establishment of the GFSA, the authority has not been fully operational.

“As a government, we are now working to put systems in place to get it into operation. I know that Chile has very good skills in this area so we look forward to your guidance. With all the investments coming into the country now and the interest being shown, agencies like the GFSA will be very important,” Minister Mustapha said.

Minister Mustapha also said there needed to be amendments to the Bill to correct measures that were considered harsh on certain classes of businesses.

“In 2019, all the legislation might not have been captured that were critical in the Food Safety Bill. So, we’ll have to look at amendments. For example, when the Bill was passed, it had certain measures in it that are considered harsh on small businesses in the country so we have to review those measures. Additionally, we have to implement new, modern measures that will be important for the Authority,” Minister Mustapha added.

Some of the areas identified for collaboration are for the development of Guyana’s food traceability system, the food safety standard, practices and principles, technical assistance in the area of food policy development, implementation, and training among other things.