By Steve Agbota [email protected]
Due to frustration and fear of rejection of the their produce in Europe and other countries, Nigerian exporters have gone to adopt the ‘country of origin’ and ‘labeling’ of neigbouring West African countries like Ghana, Benin Republic and Togo to ship their commodities abroad.
The decision was to cut back on mounting losses they have incurred over the years due to wrong perception and integrity issues around farm produce that emanated from the country.
Shippers who spoke to Daily Sun said that despite the federal government creating an Export Processing Terminal (EPT) to facilitate exportation of produce in the nation’s seaports, the Nigerian exporters still prefer shipping their products via the ports of Thema, Ghana, Cotonou, Benin Republic and Lome, Togo.
Daily Sun learnt that majority of the farm produce especially yams going through Ghana to Europe are from Nigeria. But this same produce going through Nigerian ports are often rejected overseas due to negative labelling and perceptions placed on Nigerian export by their prospective buyers.
This buttresses the reason why Nigerian exporters have been adopting the labels of Ghana, Benin Republic and Togo for their commodities to be shipped abroad.
Sources confirmed to Daily Sun that once such goods, including agricultural produce and edibles, are labelled as originating from Nigeria, they are rejected at their countries of destination. This is even as sources revealed that about 76 per cent of Nigerian products are rejected by European Union (EU).
Speaking on the reasons why the products are rejected at a recent forum, the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, said that some Nigerian exporters bypass the agency.
According to her, exporters are boycotting regulatory procedures and that all the food products rejected abroad never went through the scrutiny of both NAFDAC and the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Services (NAQS).
Adeyeye said: “Most of the exporters don’t go through NAFDAC and after taking a shortcut at the other end, they get to the other side there is no shortcut, and the product will be destroyed”.
“We have to enlighten the public more about the role of NAFDAC in exportation, because we have to test whether there is pesticide residues and moles in the food. We have to do all sort of testing because if we don’t, when it gets to the other side it will be rejected and destroyed”.
An exporter, Bassey Udom, said that there are lot of bottlenecks associated with export produce that the government needs to urgently address if it is serious about non-oil economy.
“We are aware of EPT crested by the government strictly for export but that has not changed the wrong perception of the foreign buyers about the export produce coming from Nigeria. This is the reason we are going through neighbouring countries where they have wide acceptance of their export produce in Europe.
“This why some of these government agencies are saying exporters don’t come to them for documentation or for scrutiny and the rest. It is not 100 per cent true. Sometimes, these produce face logistic issues before arriving the port for shipping. Touts and police will stop our trucks and collect money on the highways and among other issues. This usually causes delays getting our products to the destination on time.
“Once we are able to scale through all these hurdles, we take our produce to where we know that it will not be rejected and make our money. The joy of every businessman is to make good money,” he said.
He added that the government has a lot of work to do by addressing these bottlenecks and the negative labelling and rejection of exports from Nigeria by the European countries.
In an interview with Daily Sun, the Chief Executive Officer, Center for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) Dr. Muda Yusuf emphasised the need for Nigeria to build trust and confidence among international buyers and regulatory authorities for its agricultural products. He explained that issues with the quality of some Nigerian food products have led exporters to seek labels of origin from other countries, like Ghana, to meet foreign standards. This situation arose due to concerns about the quality and packaging of Nigerian produce, which have affected items such as beans in the past.
Dr. Yusuf highlighted that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the physical quality of products like yams. However, the problem lies in how they are packaged and documented, which can create a negative perception of Nigerian goods. He pointed out that there is a bias against Nigerian exports, leading to more stringent scrutiny compared to products from other countries.
To address these challenges, Dr. Yusuf stressed the importance of improving packaging, adhering to international standards, and streamlining export processes. He noted that the logistics involved in getting perishable goods from farms to ports are cumbersome and often lead to delays, which can compromise the quality of the products. He argued that simplifying these processes would not only boost confidence among foreign buyers but also reduce the need for Nigerian exporters to go through additional trouble, such as routing products through Ghana.
The Daily Sun further reported that one of the significant obstacles facing Nigerian exporters is the difficulty in finding buyers for their products. This challenge is exacerbated by the negative perception that foreign markets have developed towards Nigerian exports.