The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC),Prof.Moji Adeyeye has faulted the United States of America and European Union member countries’ continued rejection of Nigerian food and agricultural commodities due to low quality.
She implored all regulatory authorities at the port charged with guaranteeing high quality imports and exports to find immediate and long-term solutions to the European Commission’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) Border Rejection Notifications on Nigerian items.
At a virtual technical roundtable meeting with other agencies of the Federal Government Adeyeye bemoaned the attendant sour image the continuous rejection of commodities from Nigeria by the EU has caused the country.
This was contained in a statement by NAFDAC Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola, which was made available to newsmen on Sunday in Abuja, she noted 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 United States of America where they have been repeatedly rejected and which has become a great issue of concern.
She stated that ; ‘’ NAFDAC has a statutory responsibility to safeguard public health through the execution of its mandate. We are charged with the responsibility to regulate and control the manufacture, importation, exportation, distribution, advertisement, sale and use of food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, bottled and packaged water, chemicals generally referred to as NAFDAC regulated products.’’
According to her, NAFDAC is designated as World Trade Organization/Sanitary and Phytosanitary Enquiry Point in Nigeria on Food Safety to facilitate international trade, and respond to enquiries on safety standards, regulations, and guidelines on food trade in Nigeria.
Internationally, she said Nigerias products meant for export market are faced with presence of contaminants such as pesticide residues, notoriously dichlorvos and other impurities, exceeding maximum permitted level and some with inadequate packaging and labeling which had caused a lot of products rejections in the global market.
She, however, noted that the international market is competitive in nature and only welcomes products of high quality with relevant certifications and quality packaging that is environmentally friendly, to trade globally, stressing that the problem of quality, standard, certification, and appropriate packaging for made-in-Nigeria products destined for export has been an issue in the international market and there is need to address the issue of rejections.
The NAFDAC boss disclosed that the Agency has over the years intervened to assist Nigerian exporters to meet with international regulations thereby creating employment and earning foreign exchange for Nigeria.
She added that through her agency’s intervention,it was agreed that these products be subjected to 100% pre-export testing and issuance of Health Certificate to products with satisfactory limits before European Union further verify at their border control points.
Adeyeye further disclosed that her Agency had analyzed the RASFF alert from the EU and observed that most rejected products by the EU were smuggled out and not certified by NAFDAC and the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Services at the ports
She added that the development calls for proper collaboration and synergy amongst all agencies of government to curb the indecent behavior 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’’.
Based on the RASFF alert received from EU, she said NAFDAC had sensitized food processors, handlers and exporters through training programmes, workshops and seminars on current Food Safety Management requirements such as Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP), Good Manufacturing Practises (GMP), Good Hygiene Practices (GHP), Risk Analysis to ensure that products are safe and of good quality, to gain consumers confidence and acceptability in Nigeria and international export markets.
‘’Effective assessments of export products are very key and basic information that may need to be consider in the accompanying shipping documents include Certificate of Radiation, Health certificate, Sanitary and Phytosanitary certificate, Evidence of fumigation of vessels and evidence of risk- based inspection on food Safety, must all be certified by the appropriate and designated competent authorities having current scope-testing accreditation’, she said.
To address the problem faced in the international market, she emphasized the need for coordination, cognition, and collaboration among all government bodies involved in regulating exportation of semi-processed and processed food.
