Made in Nigeria foods: NAFDAC raises alarm over rejection by US, EU
The Director General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Prof. Moji Adeyeye, yesterday decried the incessant rejection of food and agricultural commodities from Nigeria by the United States of America and the European Union over what she described as “poor quality”.
Adeyeye in a statement on Quality and Safety of Export Food Trade, urged all the regulatory agencies at the ports saddled with the responsibility of ensuring high quality of imports and exports to find urgent and lasting solutions to Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed, RASFF, Border Rejection Notifications from The European Commission on products originating from Nigeria.
Adeyeye lamented the resultant bad image the repeated rejection of commodities from Nigeria by the EU had caused the country, expressing concern over the volume of food and agricultural commodities from Nigeria currently facing challenges at entry points in some countries in Europe and the US where they had been repeatedly rejected.
She said, “NAFDAC has a statutory responsibility to safeguard public health through the execution of its mandate.
“We are charged with the responsibility to regulate and control the manufacture, importation, distribution, advertisement, sale and use of food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, bottled and packaged water, chemicals- generally referred to as NAFDAC regulated products.
“NAFDAC is designated as World Trade Organization/Sanitary and Phytosanitary Enquiry Point in Nigeria on food safety and to facilitate international trade and respond to enquiries on safety standards, regulations and guidelines on food trade in Nigeria.
Adeyeye said, internationally, Nigeria’s products meant for export market were faced with the presence of contaminants such as pesticide residues, notorious dichlorvos and other impurities, exceeding maximum permitted level and some with inadequate packaging and labelling which had caused a lot of products’ rejection in the global market.
She noted that the international market was competitive in nature and only welcomed products of high quality with relevant certifications and quality packaging that is environmentally friendly, to trade globally.
According to her, the problem of quality, standard, certification and appropriate packaging for made-in-Nigeria products destined for export has been an issue in the international market and there is need to address the issue of rejections.
The NAFDAC boss disclosed that the agency had over the years, intervened to assist Nigerian exporters to meet with international regulations, with a view to creating employment and earning foreign exchange for Nigeria.
Through this intervention by NAFDAC, she added that it was agreed that the products be subjected to 100-per cent pre-export testing and issuance of health certificate to products with satisfactory limits before the European Union further verifies at their border control points.
Adeyeye further disclosed that her agency had analyzed the RASFF alert from the EU and observed that most rejected products by the EU were smuggled out and were not certified by NAFDAC nor the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Services at the ports.
She added that this called for proper collaboration and synergy among all agencies of government to curb the indecent behaviour of some exporters and ensure that only quality and certified products are exported.
