The Fisheries Department of the Ministry of Agriculture is to discuss new regulations to enable Guyana to resume exporting catfish, with the US Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) this week.
Guyana has not had access to the US catfish market since March 2018.
Speaking to Stabroek News on Friday, Chief Fisheries Officer Denzil Roberts explained that the inspection service only responded recently to documentation sent previously due to a delay resulting from a shutdown of the US federal government.
He said that the FSIS has since requested to have a tele-conference by the end of the month, and then officials here will know whether anymore documentation has to be submitted and when exports can likely resume. Roberts was unable to provide a date as regards when the regulations would be finalised and when catfish exports can resume even as he observed that the sector is still affected as exporters are unable to access the American market.
