2024-07-22 02:50:54
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Guinea destroys 4,000 tons of products that are not suitable for human consumption each year through the National Office for Quality Control, a department under the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and SMEs. It is in this context that the project for the inspection and quarantine of incoming and outgoing products in the Republic of Guinea was born in 2019.
A public-private partnership between the Guinean State and the Chinese international company YUNNAN SCALE QUALITY TESTING. It was the Minister Director of the Cabinet at the Prime Minister’s Office who launched the activities of this technology center this Thursday, July 11, 2024 in Conakry.
“In a current context characterized by the proliferation of products unfit for consumption which are the source of many diseases, and the porosity of borders, it is important to put in place systems ensuring health and nutritional security for the Guinean populations. It is in this sense that this public-private partnership agreement took place in June 2023, with a total cost of more than 47 million USD for a period of 15 years and entirely financed by the partner SCALE. The objective is to strengthen the technical and operational capacities of the Quality Control Structures and correctly and regularly supply the various markets with quality and affordable basic necessities and products,” said Minister Dr. Diaka Sidibé.
In his speech, the CEO of SCALE Center stressed that it will be a matter of establishing a national technical protection barrier to have a look at the safety of domestic production and public health. Therefore, the inspection and quarantine results provided by the Technology Center, Mr. Wenjin Lee said, will provide impartial and authoritative evidence for the execution of international trade contracts, thus effectively improving the competitiveness in the international trade market, promoting the increase of exports and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of the country’s foreign trade.
“We are committed to the project’s goal of complying with international standards, operating in a regulated manner, protecting quality and safety, and benefiting public service, by building and fully operating the Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Technology Center. We are confident that with the support of the governments of the two countries and relevant departments, as well as the active cooperation of various sectors, the Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Technology Center will successfully accomplish its mission,” he said.
Officially launching this center on behalf of the Prime Minister, the Minister Director of the Cabinet at the Prime Minister’s Office, indicated that the current realities on the ground at the national level as well as those of the international trade environment on the control of food and non-food products, on import and export have demonstrated the inadequacies of the Quality Infrastructure system in the Republic.
This is why, Mohamed Lamine Sy Savané said, “this control system will ultimately make it possible to reduce the health risks linked to non-compliant products which today constitute a real public health problem.”
It should be noted that this inspection and quarantine technology center, whose headquarters is located at the autonomous port of Conakry, is divided into three (3) phases, including installation, operation and the phase intended for the transfer of skills to the Guinean State.
Sâa Robert Koundouno
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