Georgetown: A five-member Canadian team is in Guyana to conduct a four-day workshop with local agro-producers to help them improve their trade
A five-member team arrived in Guyana on Sunday morning from Canada. Buyers Mission with local growers and producers are aimed at raising the bar in the quality and standard of local agro-processed foods.
The event was reportedly organised and funded by the Trade Facilitation Office of Canada (TFO Canada) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (MFATD).
It is expected that at least 10 business enterprises will be participating in the four- day workshop. Most of these businesses have been participating in the project since its inception in 2012.
In a release, it was disclosed that the facilitation and organisation of local buyers will be done by the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA), while activities for the local growers and producers in agro-processed foods will be organised and facilitated by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).
Prestige Bottling Enterprise, Original Juices, Jet’s Enterprise, Pomeroon Oil Mills, Sterling Products, and Nand Persaud Company are some of the major enterprises which are expected to take part in the four-day event.
Since the inception of this stretch of the TFO Canada Trade-related Capacity Building Project, local growers and agri-food manufacturers have been benefiting from several interventions by the Canadian agriculture and quality standards advisors.
Recent visits in August 2013 and then in January 2014 saw the operations in each of the producer’s facilities subjected to thorough examinations with the proprietors receiving direct technical assistance, keeping in mind the goal of improving their products’ exporting quality and capacity.
However, there are several other areas which are expected to be touched on during the visit by the team, including Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), product traceability, and acquisition of international certification, especially Organic and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) certificates.
To make this task possible, the Eureka Medical Laboratory has been brought onboard and is being made ready to conduct viable food and water analyses which are a necessary component for local growers and food manufacturers to qualify for international quality standards certification which will enable them to better access regional and international markets.
Further, it has been disclosed that the MFATD has made a commitment of financial help to assist the entrepreneurs in the process, which they have described as being too expensive so that they can achieve international standards in their operations.
Just two months ago, the Guyana Agro-Processors Association in collaboration with the Agriculture Ministry and by extension, the Guyana Marketing Corporation, hosted a forum at the International Conference Centre at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown to highlight the successes, failures and major challenges of agro-processors in Guyana.
