Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, says that he has called for an independent investigation as it relates to the 1,000 tonnes of local paddy that was exported to Colombia and found to be contaminated with “an identified exotic disease.”According to Persaud, he has since written to the Agriculture Minister of Colombia lodging a mild protest given that the information available to him suggest that the rice may have been contaminated on arrival in Colombia hence the independent investigation.According to Persaud it is always difficult breaking into a new market and he has informed the Colombians that he is willing to have a Guyanese delegation travel there to resolve the issue.The rice was shipped from Guyana by Saj Rice Mills (SRM).When the news first broke the local Agriculture Minister had said that, “I have directed the GRDB [Guyana Rice Development Board] to investigate the matter notwithstanding the company’s pronouncement that the shipment was free of any impurities or fungi when it left Guyana. I have asked that the Colombians, US and the Latin American rice research system – FLAR – be involved.”Reuters had reported that the 1,064 tonnes of rice will be returned to Guyana following the discovery of a fungus which corresponds to the Tilletia type.The same fungus, Reuters said,Wholesale China Jerseys, was detected in 5,Cheap NFL Jerseys China,493 tons of rice originating from the United States.Fearing a possible spread of the fungus in their territory, Colombia immediately ordered the rice transported back to its source.Colombia has the shipment aboard a vessel docked at port Barranquilla in an attempt to isolate what the report described as an “identified exotic disease.”The procedures were executed to avoid possible contamination of Colombia’s cereals.“All the agricultural imports that enter Colombia are put under a process of quality control,” Reuters said.The fungus identified during this process corresponds to the Tilletia sort plague – a type of fungi which targets cereals – and controlling such a fungus would increase production costs, and products would not be marketable if contaminated.The General Manager of the Colombian Farming Institute,DeVante Parker Dolphins Jersey, Jaime Cardenas Lopez,cheap jerseys from china, according to Reuters, said that it is the organization’s responsibility to ensure that imports do not put Colombia’s national rice production at risk.Hence, the infected shipment worth US$2.6 million is safely stored aboard a vessel at port Barranquilla.Colombia, in December, approved a tender to import 75,Chris Chelios Jersey,000 tonnes of paddy at zero duty to reduce the cost of the product in the local market.The local rice industry has been straining to cope with much lower international prices this year for rice.