May 22, (THEWILL) – The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), said more than 70 percent of food exported from Nigeria is rejected abroad.
Director-general of the agency, Mojisola Adeyeye, disclosed this while speaking at the official commissioning of the new NAFDAC office complex, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos.
Worried about the effect on exporters and the country at large, Adeyeye said, NAFDAC was responding to the challenge by initiating a collaborative adventure with government agencies at the ports.
She said this would ensure that goods are of requisite quality and meet the regulatory requirements of the importing countries and destinations before they are taken to the ports for shipment.
Adeyeye, who called on all stakeholders in the export trade to see it as a call to duty, charged stakeholders to collaborate with NAFDAC for the sake of the country.
She emphasised the need for enhanced regulation of export – packaging, pre-shipment testing and certification, to provide some quality assurance.
She commended the Nigeria Customs Service, the police and the Department of State Services for the symbiotic relationship between their management and the NAFDAC.
“We work with Interpol and the FBI because of the few stakeholders that are unscrupulous. NAFDAC collaborates with Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Services to ensure that due diligence is done because over 70 percent of the products that leave our ports get rejected.
“Considering the money spent on getting those products out of the country, it is a double loss for both the exporter and the country”, she said.
