These are certainly not the best of times for National Agency For Food And Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the agency in charge of the regulation of food and drugs in Nigeria. The Senate last Thursday, called on NAFDAC to tighten its oversight on locally produced food and agricultural items to ensure global acceptance. This followed a four-point motion by Sen. Francis Alimikhena on European Union’s ban on Nigeria’s agricultural export products.
The products banned by the EU till June, 2016, according to Alimikhena, are beans, sesame seeds, melon seeds, dried fish, dried meat, peanut chips and palm oil.
He said that the rejected beans, for instance, were found to contain between 0.03 kilograms to 4.6 kilograms of dichlorvos substance, contrary to acceptable limit.
The senate also called on ministries of Agriculture and Health, respectively, Standards Organisation of Nigeria and National Food Safety Management Committee to sanitise food and agricultural products imported into or exported out of Nigeria. It mandated its Standing Committee on Health and Agriculture, when constituted, to look into the matter with a view to overturning the EU ban on Nigerian agricultural products.
The lawmakers equally urged federal and state governments to invest more in the production of agricultural products. They further urged agriculture extension workers to enlighten illiterate farmers on the dangers of chemicals in food.
President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, said the ban by the EU was embarrassing given the strength of Nigeria in the international community. He called on relevant stakeholders to wake up to their responsibilities, adding that “the regulatory agencies should work to reverse this ban. As we talk about diversification we should take a good look at this particularly, because the EU market is closer to us than Asian markets.”
Earlier in his contribution, Sen. Ali Wakili said agencies of government must be strengthened in terms of equipment and welfare. He added that agriculturists should be trained so that products from the country would not be rejected, saying “we have to look inward.”
Sen. Aliyu Sabi lamented that the EU ban had the potential to affect the country’s revenue.
“One thing is certain, the EU takes standard importantly; the world has gone far and we must wake up else we will remain where we are. How much funding are we giving our research institutes? They have not been funded well in the last five years.
On his part, Sen. Joshua Lidani said that the ban was a wake-up call for the regulatory agencies to closely monitor agricultural products consumed by Nigerians.
It must however be noted that NAFDAC has always been known for its reputation in standards of foods and drugs produced in the country. This has won it many international recognitions.
An insider who spoke with Nigeria Natural Health Online www.kimekwu.blogspot.com, said an investigation has commence to find out factors behind the ban.
