The importation of chicken has always been a controversial issue in Guyana since local farmers feel that once they are given the opportunity they would be able to meet the demand, hence there is no need to import the product which is usually substandard in any case.
This newspaper recently broke the news that the Guyana Government had granted licences for the importation of over 800,000 pounds of chicken, allegedly because there would be a shortage of locally produced chicken during the Christmas season.
Based on some prior investigation, we understand that the responsible Governmental officials only met with the local producers after the licences had been issued. Some local producers have queried exactly how 19 companies were granted licenses by the Government without any consultation with the local industry.
Certainly, this is unacceptable when one considers the fact that it takes three months to produce meat birds and if the local producers were given timely notice, they would have been able to meet any shortfall. To date, the authorities have not explained to the Nation the reasons it took this approach to handling the matter.
This precipitate importation of foreign chicken is not in the interest either of the Guyanese consumer or of the national interest as a whole. In the past, chicken imports consisted on the lowest grade of chicken, some of which was designated as pet-food.
Other chicken imports were birds which had been kept in refrigeration from 10 to 12 years or even longer and were not meant for human consumption. The local importers go after the cheapest chicken they could find, little aware that it is sub-standard meat the exporters are dumping on them.
If chicken would be imported, then the Bureau of Standards and the Food and Drugs office must be involved in ascertaining the standard of the chicken from the foreign sources and also to inspect the chicken when it would have arrived here. By doing this, the Government would be protecting the health of the citizens and preventing them from being exploited, since sub-standard meat could result in a number of ailments and diseases.
In addition to the dangers to consumers mentioned above, we consider the importation of large quantities of foreign chicken not to be in the best interest of the national interest for the following reasons:
(i) The chicken industry has been a large and reliable customer of the rice industry. The rice industry has been going through a crisis and requires all the support it could get and to diminish such support is not in the national interest.
(ii) The chicken industry is one of the largest employers in the countryside. If the industry is damaged or minimised, people in the rural areas would suffer greatly since the industry provides employment for thousands of workers. One well-known producer, Bounty Farms for example, employs more than 500 workers.
(iii) The industry employs more women than men and leads the way towards gender equality and respect and is something of a pioneer in this regard.
The chicken industry has many other beneficial spinoffs to the country’s economy and among these are the following:
(a) It provides a high quality fertiliser.
(b) The chicken industry helps to provide Guyana with Food Security. Food Security is something which all countries are striving to achieve and Guyana is well within sight of it.
(c) Once the chicken industry is allowed to satisfy local needs without disturbance, it will eventually be in surplus and ready to join the league of exporters.
On one hand the Administration is talking about creating opportunities for small businesses to grow, but its policies are contrary to allow for this to happen. It is quite unfortunate that the Government has had to take this route in dealing with an alleged chicken ‘shortage’.
However, even at this late hour, we believe that if local producers were given the opportunity, they would be able to meet the shortfall, if it should occur. On the other hand, if Government has no wish to modify its licence policy, it should at least meet all the importers and ascertain their sources and quality of imports and do direct checks in the interest of the health of Guyanese consumers.
