Against the backdrop of protracted public and private sector prevarication over the taking of steps to cater for the United States’ Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), a US diplomat here has dropped a broad hint that unless local companies whose ambitions extend to securing traction in the US market get their houses in order, they are likely to find themselves out in the cold.
At the opening of the workshop in Georgetown earlier this month, the US Embassy’s Economic and Commercial Affairs Officer, Sandra Zuniga Guzman reminded that a point had now been reached where compliance with the provisions of the FSMA had now become a matter of urgency for Guyanese exporters. It is widely accepted that for at least three years the authorities here in both the public and private sectors had been largely indifferent to the importance of implementing the provisions of the Act.
With the full and effective implementation of the of requirements of the FSMA now imminent the US embassy official said that in circumstances where local companies fail to meet the required standards local companies were likely to face difficulties in finding market acceptance for their food products on the US market.
