Guyana responding comprehensively to US authorities in bid to lift catfish ban – Ambassador

The Government of Guyana has responded comprehensively to the latest set of queries from the U.S. Department of Agriculture as part of ongoing efforts to lift the longstanding ban on the export of Guyana’s wild-caught catfish to the United States.

Speaking on the sidelines of an event on Monday, U.S. Ambassador to Guyana, Nicole Theriot, said that Guyana had submitted its most recent set of responses as recently as last month, demonstrating its commitment to resolving the issue.

“It’s a very long process unfortunately. Most recently in the latest step, the Government of Guyana has responded quite comprehensively to the latest round of questions that we had,” Theriot noted.

The U.S. has maintained a ban on catfish exports from Guyana since 2017, during the administration of former President David Granger. At the time, Guyana’s catfish exports to the U.S. were valued at approximately $1.8 billion.

Ambassador Theriot emphasised that the delay in resolving the matter is not due to a lack of action on Guyana’s part, but rather, the extensive workload facing U.S. authorities, who are simultaneously dealing with similar requests from more than 180 countries.

“It takes some time unfortunately we’re dealing with 180 other countries,” she said. “But they are aware that this is a priority for us and for the Government of Guyana.”

“ Obviously the whole point of the current ban is simply to make sure that everything that comes into the United States is safe for consumers. It’s about safety and phytosanitary. The Department of Agriculture is currently reviewing all of those responses and then once they’ve done that they will either ask additional questions or they will choose to lift the ban,” Theriot said.

According to the US 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 practiced here, whereby the fish is caught, disemboweled and the carcass is iced until it reaches the shore.