T&T clears the air regarding milk exports from Guyana

GEORGETOWN (CMC):

Trinidad and Tobago has sought to reassure Guyanese exporters that their products would be welcomed into the twin island republic once they undergo a “risk analysis” before their products are allowed to land in the CARICOM country.

Trade and Industry Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon, who is here attending the 58th meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) that ended Wednesday, told reporters that there were certain guidelines or entry into the Trinidad and Tobago market.

“An import permit is required but based on the fact that this is the first time that any item like milk has been coming in from Guyana, there is a requirement for what is called a risk analysis to be done and we are prepared to work with the Guyana company to ensure that this is done expeditiously and that no such product, as far as is humanly possible, would ever be returned to or a decision would not be taken to return by the private sector,” she said.

On Tuesday, the Demerara Distillers Limited’s (DDL) said that its packaged milk and containers of bottled flavoured water had been placed under heavy scrutiny by Port of Spain in moves that are of “grave concern” to it.

Speaking at a news conference, DDL Chairman, Komal Samaroo, told reporters that these developments run counter to the free trade agreements in the region and diminish regional food security goals.

He said four 20-foot shipping containers with the products were shipped to Trinidad in March given that DDL had opted to export these products after working alongside a Trinidadian partner to determine the demand for the product there.

He said the products are worth an estimated US$130,000.

But Gopee-Scoon said “the milk being returned was a decision of the importer; the importer being a Trinidadian company. That decision was taken by him.

“I guess that milk being a perishable item and therefore there would have been an expiry date attached to it and I suppose in the meantime, he probably thought it would have taken too long to get the necessary permit and he is the one who made the decision to return the item, not the government of Trinidad and Tobago”.

President Irfaan Ali Wednesday said the decision by Trinidad and Tobago to reject a shipment of milk and water from Guyana “does not help the agenda of all our regional leaders”.

Ali, who is also the chairman of the 15-member regional integration movement, CARICOM, said “We are now working in the region on dismantling trade barriers and dealing with these exact situations.

‘We are trying to integrate trade, expand our regional economies and create more opportunities for regional businesses and this is a prime example of a scenario that does not help the 25 by 25 plan,” he said, adding “also it does not help the agenda of all our regional leaders”.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in a statement issued here on Tuesday night, said that along with the Ministry of Agriculture, they have been aware of the incident as it relates to “non-acceptance of dairy products produced by one of the country’s largest producers of dairy products which was destined for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

“It is noted that under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, the implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy to which both Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana subscribe, requires free movement of goods and services under the regional integration framework.

“The refusal of entry to the dairy products wholly produced in Guyana by CARICOM member state is an affront to the spirit of Caribbean integration agenda and must not be accepted,” the ministry said in its statement.