Lethem businesses say new system for imports from Brazil premature

Lethem business owners say that a new system for meat importation introduced by Customs in the border community on Monday is premature as officials are “unprepared” and the process is time-consuming.

“We don’t mind if we have to follow a system, but they have to put things in place”, businesswoman Linda Khan told Stabroek News yesterday.

Vice-President of the Rupununi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), Alfred Ramsaran, in a press release stated that Customs in the Region Nine community on Monday introduced a new system for goods entering Guyana from Brazil “but they were unprepared for the exercise”. He told this newspaper that the process should be re-examined.

In the statement, Ramsaran explained that all goods entering Guyana at Lethem must now be declared at the border crossing where an outpost is located. However, Ramsaran said, when the new process started Monday, the officers were ill-equipped to commence. He stated that meat and meat products being imported must now be accompanied by a health certificate from the Public Health Department.

According to the statement, in order for chicken and other products to be released on Monday, a customer had to bring along the Public Health Officer from Lethem to the border crossing, a distance of about 3km, to examine the goods. “This has caused undue delays and business persons feel that all officers concerned should be stationed at the crossing to facilitate the issuing of certificates and other requirements, rather than have someone to locate them whenever certification is required”, it said.

It further explained that meat products coming from Bon Fim, Brazil are frozen but when transported to Lethem “where there is only 18 hours of electricity with constant outages, it is not convenient for any business to purchase large quantities for storage in Lethem, as such frozen products are brought into Lethem almost daily”.

Ramsaran said that at the outpost, there is no desk or chairs for the officers to sit and write. He said that the officials made entries in a ledger sitting on a long bench located in a small building next to the river crossing. He pointed out that the multi-purpose building is not yet ready even though work has been ongoing for the past six years. In some cases very small amounts are being ordered from a Brazilian supplier but the purchasers still have to make their way to the river crossing.

“This brings additional hardship and stress to small businesses as well as large ones because one has to pay a taxi to reach the crossing to sign for the item before it is released”, the statement noted. It added that some people are contemplating shifting to Brazil “to avoid the hardship and stress they are unaccustomed to when the new systems are in place”.

The RCCI plans to meet with its members to apprise them of the new system and also to examine ways and means to iron out any difficulties they may encounter on both sides with the opening of the Takutu Bridge. Businesses have halted purchasing from Boa Vista in the interim, the statement added.