Canada’s food safety agency says didn’t provide certificate for seized containers

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) yesterday said that it was not involved in certifying the four containers of assorted food items which were denied entry into Guyana by the Government Analyst-Food and Drug Department (GAFDD) last week.

“The CFIA investigated and can confirm that the certificate was not issued by the CFIA. The Canadian company identified on the certificate is not licensed by the CFIA and is not authorized to receive export certificates from the CFIA,” the agency said in a statement sent to Stabroek News.

It noted that the document which accompanied the shipment is a Manufacturer’s Declaration which CFIA stopped using as of January 15, 2019.

CFIA also said that the inspector who signed the certificate is not employed with them.

The agency noted that they are in contact with Guyanese authorities to review the ways they can verify they are receiving authentic certificates from CFIA-licensed facilities.

The CFIA declaration will raise questions about the validity of paperwork for the shipment and why this was not detected as inauthentic.

Last Wednesday, the

GA-FDD had announced that the containers of food items which were imported from Canada by businessman Faizal Asif Iqbal Alli of Lot 83 Mon Repos Housing Scheme, East Coast Demerara were denied entry into Guyana.

The press release had said that a decision was made to extract and examine the items from the containers following several consumer complaints, “many” attempts by the department’s inspectors to conduct inspections and locate several bonds operated by Alli and against the backdrop of allegations of alleged malpractices perpetrated by Alli.

The release further stated that detailed examinations and sampling of the container’s contents were carried out on October 25th and October 30th, during which several findings were unearthed.

These include: Expiry dates deliberately removed and extended with a date marking machine; repackaging of some products from the original container or packages into bulk containers void of labelling details; expired or short dated expiry dates were removed on some products and extended using a date marking machine; most, if not all items of food were close dated with less than 75% of the shelf life remaining before importation; and some items were labelled with misleading information, e.g. Acetic Acid was labelled as “White Vinegar”.

The GA-FDD had further stated that inspections would be “urgently” carried out at retail premises across the country since two of the containers bearing substandard items were electronically released from the port of entry without the department’s consent or approval.

“Inspectors subsequently visited Mr Alli premises …and reported that none of the items could (be) located,” the release added.

“The Department will now exchange communication and details of this practice with the Canadian Food Exporters Association, which attested to the wholesomeness of the products on a Health Certificate that was used to facilitate the trade of the items from Canada to Guyana,” it had added.

The Department had also said that legal proceedings would be instituted by its prosecutor against Alli for allegedly knowingly or deliberately facilitating the importation and release of substandard articles of food to be used by the general populace of Guyana.

On Friday, Alli in a letter from his attorney Anil Nandlall denied the allegations of malpractice levelled against him by the GA-FDD while threatening legal action against the entity

“I am to inform you that my client specifically and categorically denies each and every allegation which you have made against him and the products which he has imported. I am instructed that my client has been importing a wide variety of food items, beverages and other consumables on a large-scale basis, for over a decade and with the exception of a singular incident, has never been the subject of such allegations,” Nandlall had written in the letter.

Nandlall also said that the allegations were not only levelled against Alli but also leading international companies as well as two public authorities, the Canada Food Inspection Agency and Health Canada.

“The businesses and agencies, to which I have made reference [and] whose goodwill, commercial reputation and professional competence are impugned by your public disclosures have been duly apprised and, presumably, will be contacting you and your Department, in due course on that specific issue,” the letter stated.

He also copied correspondences by some of the Canadian distributors of the products, who challenged the GA-FDD’s findings.