CARICOM heads urged to encourage private sector investment in local livestock industry
by Alim Hassim
Minister of Fisheries, Crops and Livestock, Satyadeow Sawh, has called on CARICOM heads to encourage their respective private sectors to invest in Guyana's livestock subsector and to promote the concept of regional food security. Addressing the opening of a regional workshop on Animal Health Risk Assessment yesterday, Sawh pointed to the success of the local livestock industry and said that the local industry could now supply both local and export markets. "We are today self-sufficient in beef, mutton, eggs and pork. Our poultry sub-sector has recorded substantial growth in recent years... The dairy industry has also held its own, producing seven million gallons per annum... Our cattle population has remained stable," the minister said. "We feel strongly that the CARICOM governments should not only endorse our efforts to obtain certification from the Office International of Epizzotics (OIE) for meat exports, but should encourage their respective private sectors to invest in our livestock sub-sector...," he added. Sawh stressed the need for the CARICOM governments to explore the possibilities of comparative advantages. The three-day workshop being held at the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown, is aimed at enabling chief quarantine/veterinary officers in the region to conduct simple assessments for the importation of animal products into their countries. In addition, it will expose them to the process used by the US Animal Plant and Health Information Services (APHIS). Sawh noted that the workshop arose from a call from the persons involved for more hands-on type risk assessment training to better equip them to carry out their functions as senior decision makers in their respective countries. The minister argued that globalisation and commitments to the World Trade Order (WTO) had triggered and highlighted the need for all countries to "put their houses in order" so that they might benefit from the open economies that they were destined to become. Sawh noted that Guyana was thankful to the US Government for its financial and technical support, via the FY97 programme, in the areas of trade policy and the understanding of the WTO/Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement. Countries of CARICOM, Sawh urged, must develop their national capabilities to ensure that SPS measures are based on the use of risk analysis studies. Guyana, he stated, was pressing ahead to meet its WTO commitments, aware of the fact that meeting these obligations was critical to the country's long-term plans for the livestock industry. "We have recently completed the National Animal Disease Preparedness Plan. We have recently formed a national CODEX Committee that will seek to strengthen our ability to address food safety issues," the minister said. In addition, he said, the Pesticides and Toxic Chemicals Bill was expected to be passed in parliament shortly. This bill will allow for the enacting of legislation to regulate the manufacture, importation, transportation, storage, sale, use and disposal of pesticides and toxic chemicals. It will also allow for the establishment of the Pesticides and Toxic Chemicals Control Board and a Registration and Licensing Office to ensure that all chemicals used in Guyana are approved, registered and licensed in a prescribed manner. The workshop is being co-sponsored by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA); the United States Department of Agriculture/APHIS; and the CARICOM Secretariat. Also addressing the opening of the workshop were Richard Fite, Acting Chief of APHIS Risk Assessment Systems; Desiree Field-Ridley, adviser, Single Market and Sectoral Programmes, CARICOM; and Jerry La Gra, IICA Representative in Guyana. 
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