The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has said that synergy amongst federal government’s regulatory agencies at the ports is required to end the rejection of made-in-Nigeria food products by the United States of America and European Union (EU).
The Director General of the agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, who decried the incessant rejection of food and agricultural commodities from Nigeria by the US and the EU member countries on account of poor quality, said that an urgent and lasting solutions is needed to stop the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) border rejection notifications from the European Commission on products originating from Nigeria.
Speaking on the quality and safety of export food trade at a virtual technical roundtable meeting with other federal government agencies such as the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Foreign Portfolio Investments (FPIS), Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), and Institute of Public Analysts of Nigeria (IPAN), amongst others, Adeyeye lamented the resultant bad image the repeated rejection of commodities from Nigeria by the EU has caused the country.
In a statement by NAFDAC’s Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola, in Abuja on Sunday, Adeyeye said the agency had analyzed the RASFF alert from the EU and observed that most of the rejected products by the EU were smuggled out and not certified by NAFDAC nor the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Services at the ports, adding that this calls for proper collaboration and synergy amongst all agencies of government to curb the indecent behaviour of some exporters and ensure only quality and certified products are exported.
We need to close gaps and work together to prevent regulatory gaps being exploited by the unscrupulous traders and their collaborators. There must be a convergence for all regulatory activities especially at the Ports of Exit as a starting point before we begin cleaning up and capacitating the honest operators and traders within the country,” she said.
Adeyeye said that the stakeholders’ meeting was apt considering the volume of food and agricultural commodities from Nigeria that is currently facing challenges at entry points in some countries in Europe and the US where they have been repeatedly rejected and which has become a great issue of concern.
We need to close gaps and work together to prevent regulatory gaps being exploited by the unscrupulous traders and their collaborators. There must be a convergence for all regulatory activities especially at the Ports of Exit as a starting point before we begin cleaning up and capacitating the honest operators and traders within the country,” she said.
Adeyeye said that the stakeholders’ meeting was apt considering the volume of food and agricultural commodities from Nigeria that is currently facing challenges at entry points in some countries in Europe and the US where they have been repeatedly rejected and which has become a great issue of concern.
