New catfish export regulations for discussion with US officials

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.

In January, Roberts had said that his Department was slated to meet with the Veterinary Public Health Department on changes in the regulations to reflect what the United States now requires. He said that those changes will have to be incorporated in the regulations and then sent to the Attorney General’s Chambers to be approved. Following that, the Minister of Agriculture has to approve the amended regulations.  In 2015, the US’ FSIS amended its regulations to establish a mandatory inspection programme for the catfish species and products derived from these fish. The amendment was the result of a 15-year battle by the Catfish Farmers of America to curtail catfish imports from Vietnam. The US government had already passed the 2008 and 2014 Farm Bills, which amended the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA), to make ‘‘catfish’’ a species amenable to the FMIA and, therefore, subject to FSIS.

Guyana failed to meet the new standards in three areas: the presence of inspectors; insufficient documentation detailing verification of each step in the sanitation and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point; and insufficient documentation specifying how the industry manages adulterated (tainted) catfish product.

Guyana has been working towards compliance with the new standards for the export of catfish to the United States since 2016, Roberts had related in March last year.

The US Embassy had said in a statement on March 14, 2018  that the Guyana government had been notified of the revised regulations as it relates to catfish imports 18 months before the changes were slated to take effect. However, despite the lengthy notice, no affirmative actions were taken to ensure that the country became compliant with the new rules.