The Director General (DG) of, National Agency for Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Christiana Mojishola Adeyeye, has lamented the incessant rejection of Nigerian products in the international market.
According to her, the situation is caused by a lack of regulation and non-compliance with international market standards by producers and exporters in Nigeria.
She noted that the perennial 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 other reason, according to the NAFDAC DG, is the evasion or rejection of statutory stipulations of minimum requirements for product quality, packaging and storage conditions for shipment of regulated products in international commerce.
Adeyeye explained this, yesterday, in Oshodi, Lagos, at a stakeholders’ workshop for exporters of NAFDAC regulated products, titled, ‘Achieving sustainable export of regulated products; the imperatives.’ She added that Ignorance of the regulatory requirements from the importing country is one of the causes of rejection.
She noted that the sourcing of products from the open market without consciousness of intrinsic quality and the state of commodities regarding pesticide residue, microbial load and aflatoxin content is another cause.
Adeyeye noted that the way forward is for exporters to cooperate with NAFDAC in this endeavour to regulate the products, as the agency is assiduously working with relevant stakeholders like the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Trade and Exchange Department and the Nigeria Customs Service, the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investments, among others.
