NAFDAC Moves To Mitigate Export Rejection, Urges Collaborations From CBN, Others

Worried by the recurring problem of Nigerian products being rejected international market, the National Agency for Food and Drug Adminis­tration and Control (NAFDAC) has pledged to mitigate the issues plagu­ing the nation’s product export sector.

This decisive move aims to restore order and ensure only high-quality goods leave Nigeria’s shores.

Recall that while all countries struggle to promote export trade in commodities that they have a compar­ative advantage, Nigeria has left this profiting endeavour grossly unattend­ed, leading to the unwelcome rejection of Nigerian exports in international commerce with the attendant conse­quences.

Prof Christianah Adeyeye, Direc­tor General of NAFDAC, blamed the situation on the lack of regulatory su­pervision in food safety and the inabili­ty to meet minimum requirements for product quality among others.

Adeyeye who spoke in Lagos at a National Stakeholder workshop for Exporters of NAFDAC Regulated Products, with the theme: ‘Achieving Sustainable Export of Regulated Prod­ucts – The Imperatives,’ Adeyeye said with internationally accredited lab­oratories nationwide, NAFDAC was working towards the incorporation of global best practices in export trade facilitation.

Highlighting the difficulties, she said, “The previous and perennial state of international rejection of Nigerian exports has been attributed to the gross absence or negligence of regulatory supervision in the area of food safety and quality.

The evasion or rejection of statuto­ry stipulations of minimum require­ments for product quality, packaging, and storage conditions for shipping of regulated products in international commerce. Ignorance of the regulato­ry requirements from the Importing country.

“Sourcing of products from the open market without consciousness of intrinsic quality and state of com­modities regarding pesticide residue, microbial load, and aflatoxin content. Corruption of regulatory systems and operatives as well as. Sabotaging na­tional interest on the altar of selfish and temporal gain and deliberate and myopic unprofessional practices such as adulteration of goods and commod­ities for weight gain.”

The agency said it had initiated measures to sanitise the semi-coma­tose regulated product export trade sector to boost the acceptance of Ni­geria’s raw materials and finished products in international commerce.

Adeyeye said, “Going forward, we are determined to challenge the status quo and we request the support and goodwill of well-meaning exporters to cooperate with us in this endeavour. We are assiduously working with the relevant stakeholders (like the CBN Trade & Exchange Dept, The Nigeria Customs Service, The Federal Minis­try of Trade & Investments, PIAs, etc.) towards the full automation of our ex­port licensing of regulated products on the national single window for trade, where NAFDAC licenses will be a requirement for issuance of form e-NXP for regulated products.

“We hope to achieve this through working closely with willing exporters right from the farm to the pack, incul­cating and internalizing the principles of GAP, GHP and GMP while incorpo­rating global SPS measures into the products as part of quality assurance before goods even arrive the ports for shipment that is at consolidation and stuffing stages. We are also strength­ening our in-country regulatory in­frastructure. Our NAFDAC Statutory Export Regulation is in the process of being gazetted.”