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By Merit Ibe
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has urged the Federal Government to immediately reverse the ban on production of alcoholic beverages in sachets and less than 200ml pet bottles.
The association made the call following the recent ban imposed on spirit drinks in sachets and PET bottles less than 200ml, advising that the ban be replaced with regulations and access control.
MAN said the ban was at variance with the right of private entrepreneurs to invest and engage in legitimate business, add- ing that besides, the proposed policy would amount to a deliberate destruction of the business of local and indigenous investors who through thick and thin have kept faith with the Nigerian economy.
Director General of the association, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, who made the remark said to go ahead with the policy based on perceived danger, without empirical information and not mind- ing the consequences was unfair to the industry operators, the thousands of workers that will lose their jobs and inimical to Nigerian economy.
Ajayi-Kadir pointed out that key challenges in implementing strategies to eliminate underage drinking in the country has been the apparent preoccupation of NAFDAC to ban the production of drinks in sachets and PET bottles by 2024.
