New EU pesticide proposal threatens over US$70M in Guyana’s agri-food exports

Guyana’s rice exports to the European Union (EU) could be affected if the bloc goes ahead with proposed changes to its pesticide residue rules, with an estimated US$72 million in trade value at risk, according to a new assessment.

The assessment, prepared by Bryant Christie Inc for the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), estimates that about US$75 million in Guyana’s annual trade with the EU could be exposed to the proposed changes. The figures are based on average EU imports between 2022 and 2024, with approximately US$72 million classified as value at risk. Guyana was placed in the assessment’s “critical” EU dependency tier, with 42.7 per cent of its assessed agri-food exports by value going to the European market during the period. However, the report cautioned that this figure may be less reliable because of inconsistencies in trade reporting by Caribbean trading partners.

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Rice accounts for the bulk of Guyana’s exports covered by the assessment, representing about 95 per cent of the country’s top 20 commodity categories exported to the EU. The average trade value for rice was estimated at US$72.05 million, while palm hearts accounted for US$2.85 million, or roughly three per cent.