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Okwe Obi, Abuja
Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) has countered the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), over the phasing out of methyl bromide which is used for pest control.
NAFDAC’s Director General, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, had warned farmers and exporters of agro-produce to desist from using the fumigant, insisting that it is harmful.
But, in a statement, yesterday, Director General of NAQS, Dr Vincent Isegbe, maintained that methyl bromide should not be banned due to the lack of suitable alternatives, adding that it could only portend danger, if not appropriately used.
He said: “The use of methyl bromide is allowed for controlled quarantine use, due to lack of suitable alternatives, especially where specific treatment for its use is made.
“For example, Mexico, as a nation, specifically requests the use of methyl bromide in the treatment of Hibiscus shipments to their country – a trade that yielded over $35 million for Nigeria within nine months, in 2017 alone.
