Process to reverse catfish ban in US at “advanced” stage – Mustapha

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government is currently working with the United States (US) authorities to reverse the ban on catfish exports from Guyana, and according to Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha, this process is at an advanced stage.
On Friday, the Government and Opposition sides in the National Assembly traded barbs after the Agriculture Minister was grilled about the status of this matter during the Consideration of the 2025 Budget Estimates for his Ministry.
Mustapha said the Opposition should be embarrassed to even raise this issue since it was under the former APNU+AFC (A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change) Administration that the ban was imposed.

“If I was in that member’s queue, I would’ve been ashamed to ask that question. The APNU+AFC caused us to lose the catfish market in America. The AFC+APNU in 2018, they received warning from the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in the United States to get their act together and they failed, and we lost the market,” Mustapha stated in response to Shadow Agriculture Minister Vinceroy Jordan.
He added, “Now, we are working very closely with the FDA and the United States Embassy to restore that operation. And we are very close to getting it done because we are continuing to submit the documents that the people wanted. But the point is we are very close to restoring that market back to Guyana.”
The Opposition MP went onto ask, “How close are we – one month, six months, three months? Tell us how close; tell us how close the discussions are heading?”
According to the Agriculture Minister, “I will not be taking set up here this morning. We are dealing with a foreign country… But we are continuing to make representation and we are advanced in the process and I am very optimistic that [catfish market] would be restored that the APNU lost for us.”

Over the years, there has multiple exchanges between authorities from both sides with the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS) requesting additional documentation and information from its Guyanese counterpart.
Back in August, US Ambassador to Guyana, Nicole Theriot, indicated that the process is getting close to the end.
“I know it seems like a very long time but when you’re talking about the health and safety of your citizens, you have to be incredibly careful and that’s why it’s such a long, complicated process. But I promise you, Guyana is getting close to the end and I think we will be there soon,” Ambassador Theriot stated during an interview with reporters in Georgetown.
At the time, the US diplomat revealed that the last submission by local authorities was made earlier in 2024.
“In May, they (Guyanese authorities) returned the last request for information. So, it’s kinda been going back and forth. And right now, it’s back in the US – so the ball is in our court – to review the responses we received on May 25,” the Ambassador disclosed.
The US diplomat had noted that the process to lift the ban could well progress once those documents are reviewed.
“Once we have reviewed that if we have any additional questions, we will send that back. However, if they are satisfied then we can start the process for allowing catfish exports back into the United States. Unfortunately, I don’t have a timeline for that because it really depends on how long it takes them to go through the responses but I’m very confident we will get there,” Ambassador Theriot stated.
Since assuming office, the Dr Irfaan Ali-led Government has been engaging the US Government at high levels on reversing the catfish ban.
In fact, the matter was raised with former US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, during a visit to Georgetown in September 2020 and he had committed to reviewing the ban on catfish which was imposed in 2017 under the David Granger-led Administration.
It was reported back in 2023 that Guyana was awaiting a response from the US Government, having followed various stipulated requirements to lift the exportation ban on catfish.
According to the regulations, Guyana must be able to catch catfish and transport it to a processing plant while it is alive. This is in contradiction to what is being practised here, whereby the fish is caught, disembowelled and the carcass is iced until it reaches the shore.
Exporters of catfish were required to provide documentation to verify that their inspection system was equivalent to US standards. The failure to do this resulted in the US imposing a ban on catfish imports from Guyana and other non-compliant countries.
Guyana is also required to have inspectors at the plants along with documentation of sanitation and the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) during the packaging process. It also needs to provide information on how adulterated catfish products are managed.
Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha had previously lamented that the local fishing industry has severely been affected by the ban. The wild-caught catfish, especially ‘gilbaka’, has been in great demand within the Guyanese diaspora in the US.
Prior to the ban, the catfish export industry to the US was pegged at some $1.8 billion.