Regulator gets tough on health certificates for imported food and drugs

Jul 05, 2020 News

The Government Analyst Food & Drug Department (GA-FDD) says it is clamping down on importers to ensure that the origin of goods are verified to be safe before being cleared to enter.
The regulator announced, in a statement over the weekend, that the department is giving some legroom and if after October 30 persons fail to produce the required Free-Sale/health certificates during the application process, it will stall that process.

Director of the GA-FDD, Dr. Marlan Cole

Importers were ordered to take note and ensure their products are accompanied by the relevant documents, the department urged.
It was explained that directives are for importers of cosmetics, medical devices and over-the-counter medicines.
According to the statement by Dr. Marlan Cole, Director of the GA-FDD) the requirements will be an original copy of the Free Sale or Health Certificate The certificates must be issued by the National Regulatory Authority of the country of origin of the product.
This mandate is said to be placed in order to protect consumers from unsafe or substandard products.
The certificate ensures that the products being imported are produced and manufactured under sanitary and safe conditions as well as being placed under an array of regulatory oversights.
According to the GA-FDD, the mandate was made in keeping with Chapter 34:03 of the Food and Drugs Act which states, “Except as provided by the regulations, no article of cosmetic, over-the-counter drug and medical device shall be imported into Guyana unless the article wholly conforms to the laws of the country in which it was manufactured or produced and is accompanied by a certificate in the prescribed form and manner that the article does not contravene any known requirement of the law of that country and that its sale therein would not constitute a contravention of the law thereof.”