According to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, over 70% of Nigerian food exports are rejected abroad, resulting in significant financial losses for exporters and the country as a whole.
Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, Director-General of NAFDAC, stated this weekend during the ceremonial opening of the agency’s new office complex for the Murtala Muhammed International Airport/NAHCO in Lagos.
She stated that if collaboration between NAFDAC and other government agencies at the ports is increased, the rejection of Nigerian food exports in several European nations and the United States might be reduced.
She stated that the agency’s continuous severe concern was the dismal state of export trade facilitation for regulated products leaving the nation.
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She, on the other hand, stated that NAFDAC was responding to the challenge by embarking on a collaborative adventure with government agencies at the ports to ensure that goods are of the required quality and meet the regulatory requirements of the importing countries and destinations before they are packaged and hauled to the ports for shipment.
According to her, this highlights the need for more stringent export regulations, including packing, pre-shipment testing, and certification, to give some quality assurance and reduce rejects.
She urged all export trade players to regard it as a call to action and work with NAFDAC for the sake of the country and the collective future.
She praised the Nigeria Customs Service, the police, and the military Department of State Services for the symbiotic relationship among their managements and the NAFDAC.
She added, “We work with Interpol and 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 per cent 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”.
