Two things have long been clear about the challenges facing the Government Analyst-Food & Drugs Department (GAFDD) in the matter of its responsibility to protect the country from the proliferation of likely unwholesome imports into the country and the attendant consequences. The first is the Department’s patent lack of capacity to perform that function effectively, the simple truth being that the attendant monitoring and inspection responsibilities are way too onerous for the Department’s limited human and technical resources. The second has to do with the fact that the pushback against the efforts of the GAFDD in the matter of keeping potentially harmful food items out of the country is being led by a powerful international racket of which some local importers are very much a part. Of course, as the GAFDD itself admitted in a recent media release the integrity of the arrangements in place at the Customs Administration to support its (the GAFDD’s) efforts are themselves far from perfect as the events associated with the most recent reported case of expired food imports indicate.
Damage control has become par for the course in the ongoing efforts of the GAFDD to demonstrate that it is doing the best job that it can in the circumstances. It has not always been successful. The simple truth is that the yawning gap between the capabilities of the Department and the magnitude of its responsibilities has become unacceptable. On the other hand one understands that the Director and staff of the Department must put a brave face on things and continue to do their job as best they can in the circumstances.
The challenges, however, can become unbearable. In the instance of what the GAFDD seemed to be saying was an open and shut case of importation of expired goods there is a lack of clarity as to what happens next. The Canadian authorities have made it clear that they were in no way complicit in what would appear to have been the bogus documentation used to have the goods enter the country and now we have learnt from the GAFDD that it is “in receipt of an official communication from the office of Mohabir A. Nandlall & Associates, the legal counsel for the importer, signaling their intention to withdraw legal proceedings against the GA-FDD as previously stated publicly after the department would have exposed the importer’s malfeasance,” though the reasons for the sudden backing away from legal action have not been made clear.
Then there is the relationship between the GAFDD and the Customs Administration. It is no secret that the two have, historically, been at daggers drawn over the issue of the inspection procedures at ports of entry. Indeed, while, just a matter of days ago the GAFDD appeared to be chiding Customs for what it appeared to be suggesting was the release of two of the ‘offending’ containers without its (the GAFDD’s clearance) the Department’s Director is now confidently asserting that the GAFDD is currently enjoying full support and collaboration from the Guyana Revenue Authority. Again, how that comment should be taken when set against what the GAFDD had to say just days ago about two containers that had disappeared is unclear.
The likelihood, of course, of finding and impounding those expired goods that are, almost certainly, already in the national food retail system, is small.
Throughout all this, there has been no real indication, over the years of serious attempts to plug the gaps by (1) providing considerably enhanced monitoring and detection resources for the GAFDD and (11) ensuring that law-breakers are prosecuted when it comes to the matter of importing potentially harmful expired foods into the country.
You get a sense, as the saying goes that something unwholesome underpins the whole affair and that it is nothing new.
