- process temporarily suspended

Georgetown, GINA, March 27, 2008

Minister of Tourism Industry and Commerce Manniram Prashad has disclosed that effective from today no licences will be required from the Ministry for the importation of flour and wheat
The licencing process has been suspended temporarily to allow importers to bring in flour and wheat, as part of Government’s efforts to liberalise the system and provide commodities to Guyanese at a reasonable rate.
Minister Prashad made this announcement while speaking to representatives of the media at Parliament.
“This is with immediate effect, you can just bring in flour… you don’t have to come to the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce. This is a temporary measure. The licensing process is administratively suspended with immediate effect,” Minister Prashad said.
The Minister added however, that other measures such as the Food and Drug Department’s standardization will remain.
When asked how long this intervention will last, Minister Prashad said that the process will remain until government sees it fit to do otherwise, but will be monitored carefully. The objective however, is to ensure that flour reaches the consuming public at an affordable price.
He is optimistic that the process will see no revenue being lost to the government. If this occurs however, Minister Prashad said it is a sacrifice government is willing to make to satisfy consumers demands.