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From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), on Tuesday, issued warnings to exporters of food items from Nigeria against circumventing guidelines on export activities particularly food items.
The Agency said they have received enough “embarrassment” in the international markets and communities because of the poor quality of items, particularly food items that are exported and traded in the international markets which often result in outright rejections of the items.
Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, told journalists at a press conference, in Abuja, on Tuesday, that 68 different food items from Nigeria were rejected in the United Kingdom (UK) and European Union (EU) countries this year, even though the record may be little above that because of poor reporting system.
She said that NAFDAC engaged UK officials and other officials on the unabated incidences of rejection of exported Nigerian food products to the UK, non-notifications on such rejects and non-engagement of NAFDAC on the matter, and the need for mutual recognition of electronic certification of both government agencies of export certification, among others.
She said that NAFDAC has taken some steps toward changing the narrative of Nigerian food products in the international market, which include bringing into focus the export oversight functions of the agency by the establishment of office of Trade and International Relations.
She said they have also engaged with other Chief Executives of trade facilitation-related MDAs at round-table conferences in respect of streamlining Nigerian exports; engagements with representatives of trading partners in Nigeria such as EU Delegation to Nigeria, Indonesia, China, Denmark, Hungary, etc., and development partners.
“We have engaged with operators and regulators in the export trade facilitation such as Shippers Council, Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Nigerian Investment Promotion Council (NIPC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment, in addition to strengthening regulatory framework on export within the Agency.”
She, however, said that challenge bedeviling the export process of NAFDAC regulated products especially safety and quality status has been traced to non-compliance with advisory guidelines as established by NAFDAC.
Prof. Adeyeye disclosed that almost all exported food products are processed without the statutory testing by NAFDAC, hence she wasn’t surprised that the items exported without NAFDAC quality control and safety tests are rejected.
“Another challenge was non-utilization of hitherto free laboratory testing by NAFDAC for export samples coupled with the connivance of unscrupulous agents; exclusion of NAFDAC’s requirements for its regulated products in the mandatory pre-shipment inspection in the National Export Supervision Scheme (NESS) as administered by the appointed Pre-shipment Inspection Agents (PIAs).
“We also discovered the unwillingness of exporters to comply with minimal sanitary and phytosanitary measures required for exports to countries with stringent market access, as well as poor packaging, disregard for importation requirements of trading partners countries, and penchant for sourcing from open markets for exports without any form of minimal safety or quality specifications.
“In addition to that, there’s the unwillingness to invest in pre-export activities that would ensure sustainable export, disinformation on the roles of NAFDAC in the pre-shipment inspection and verification exercise of container stuffing.”
To ratify the challenges, the NAFDAC boss said the Agency has commenced six regulatory-measure approaches to address the situation which include immediate inclusion and implementation of NAFDAC’s Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Good Hygienic Practices (GHP) and Laboratory testings, certification for regulated products
She also confirmed the inclusion of NAFDAC in the CBN Export Proceed (NXP) form processing, strengthening of in-country regulatory infrastructures on export, closer working relationship with NAFDAC’s sister Agencies, and major trading partners on safety and quality of Nigerian exports, starting with UK and EU.
“We have initiated national monitoring of pesticide residues as part of continuous engagement with the UK FSA, and as a effort for the lifting of the ban on dried beans by first quarter of 2024; continuous engagements, internally and externally with relevant stakeholders. This has started yielding positive results with EU’s reduction of Nigeria melon inspection from 100 per cent to 50 per cent.”
