 food and drug laboratory complex to be established at the university of guyana food and drug laboratory complex to be established at the university of guyana food and drug laboratory complex to be established at the university of guyana webmaster tue 10312017 204 a food and drug laboratory complex is slated to be established at the university of guyana s ug turkeyen campus following a groundbreaking ceremony the new complex will lessen guyana s dependence on external laboratories to conduct analysis which has restricted access to some international markets it will also allow for improved monitoring regulation and compliance with international standards required to penetrate these markets minister of public health volda lawrence this morning explained with new export requirements for european markets particularly for seafood products and the implementation of the united states food and drug administration fda food safety modernization act fsma the us is ensuring the safety of its food supply this is being done by shifting the focus from responding to contamination to preventing it therefore products which do not comply with the law will be rejected the international arena is rapidly changing and guyana does not want to remain obsolete we must be competitive we must be robust and be able to respond to challenges such as those soon to be presented minister lawrence explained discussions between the government analyst and food and drug department gafdd and faculty of natural sciences and health sciences ug have been ongoing since 2014 and have proven fruitful director of the gafdd marlon cole said the gafdd is the unit that facilities the analysis licensing and certification of locally produced export commodities such as rice sugar rum seafood processed foods and pharmaceuticals it is also responsible for ensuring the distribution marketing and production of commodities local and imported meet the highest quality and safety standards it is imperative that our international trade is not jeopardized minister lawrence emphasised she noted that today s event was a timely and necessary one because the present facility which is housed in the iast building falls short of international standards approximately 117m was allocated in the 2017 national budget for the consultation and construction of the lab cole said there is an ongoing conformity assessment and the longawaited facility s construction will begin early next year the gafdd has been preparing the local agroprocessing industry to meet the fsma standards through requirement training workshops for local manufactures and producers this will allow the deaprtment to expand and move forward in the exportation industry meanwhile professor ivelaw griffith vice chancellor and ug principal observed that in building relations such as these his vision of a research park is well underway article adapted by  http ginagovgy guyanatobeonparwithinternationalfoodsafetystandard  ministry of public health volda lawrence 