NAFDAC Plans To Rescue Nigeria’s Food Export
The ban on Nigeria’s value-added
agricultural exports to Europe by the EU
in June 2015 is threatening the shaky
economy. However, Dr. Abubakar Jimoh,
Director of Special Duties National
Agency for Food, Drug Administration
and Control (NAFDAC) told FABIAN
ODUM of the Agency’s plan to rescue the
nation’s food export.
On the EU ban:
In June this year, the European Union
Commission placed a temporary ban on
export of some Food products such as
Beans, sesame seeds, melon seeds, dried
fish, meat, pea nuts and palm oil. Even
cocoa, cashew nuts and some other food
products were rejected in Japan, USA
and other countries on the ground of
poor quality. The temporary ban, which
ends on 30th June 2016, may be
extended if urgent and decisive actions
are not taken by concerned government
agencies.
This ban on Nigeria`s value-added
agricultural exports to Europe is
threatening our already battered
economy. President Muhammadu
Buhari`s concerted efforts to restore the
lost glory of agriculture as the mainstay
of our economy faces a major obstacle
from the suspension order by the
European Union (EU). This is obviously
bad news in the wake of decline in
foreign exchange earning from oil and
tell tale signs of Economic recession.
On the Agency’s intervention plan:
As Nigeria`s leading Quality Control
Authority, NAFDAC Director-General, Dr.
Paul Orhii is to deploy cutting-edge
technology as part of the Federal
Government`s rescue package. He is
spearheading Government’s intervention
with a plan of acquiring 100 mobile
motorised laboratories that will traverse
remote farm and produce markets
centres all over the country – the 36
states of the Federation and FCT Abuja.
There would be special consideration for
states with high volume of agricultural
activities.
The mobile laboratory testing will also
encompass intensive training of farmers
and produce marketers on food storage,
packaging and other quality control
issues. Apart from tackling headlong the
problem of food contaminants, analysis
of medicines and packaged water will
also be undertaken. The mobile labs
strategy has been used by Chinese state
Food and Drug Authority to revolutionise
its control and regulation of food and
pharmaceutical products.
The proposed on-the-spot quality
assessment and monitoring of value
chain agricultural exports will boost
quality of food consumed in Nigeria and
also save us from the embarrassment of
a permanent ban on our non-oil exports
by the EU and other countries next year.
On rejections suffered by produce
export:
Some quality control experts within the
Regulatory Authorities believe
that unscrupulous exporters of foods who
circumvent quality control procedures
put in place by NAFDAC, SON, and
quarantine services contributed
immensely to the avalanche of
international rejections of Foods
exported from Nigeria to Europe and
other countries.
The international rejections were
predicated on non-adherence to global
standards, presence of contaminants
(mycotoxins and pesticide residues) poor
packaging. NAFDAC`s record showed
that in the last two years, Nigerian food
exported to European Union border
suffered more than 50 rejections as a
result of unacceptable level of pesticide
dichlorvos contaminant contrary to
European Food safety standard.
On NAFDAC’s concern:
Political Pundits have ascribed
international Food politics by Western
powers trying to undermine Nigeria’s
efforts to diversify her monolithic
dependence on oil as source of foreign
exchange earnings.
It is estimated that Nigeria loses over
$4Billion annually from rejections of our
non-oil exports at international markets.
Poor quality and low standard of over 60
per cent of our exported food products
has denied Nigeria’s inroad to the
heavily untapped trillion Dollar food
product markets in Europe, America and
Asia.
NAFDAC has cause to be perturbed by
scary and mind boggling statistical data
revealing Nigeria as net importer of
Food products, where the nation even
has comparative advantage.
In 2012, Nigeria imported N356Billion
worth of rice (N1Billion daily),
N271Billion sugar and spent N50Billion
on importation of frozen fish when the
country had capacity of producing and
exporting N200Billion worth of frozen
fish. Nigeria spends a whopping sum of
N11.7Billion annually to import 65,809
tonnes of Tomatoes and N168 Billion
worth of fruits, while Nigeria naturally
should be one of the largest producers of
citrus.
This despicable and deplorable trend is
what President Buhari has decided to
reverse in order to restore production
and export of value added agricultural
products to its pristine position as
number one foreign exchange earner to
the nation as in the past.
In addition to the reversal of Nigeria’s
dependence on food imports, the twin
problem of youth unemployment and
mass poverty as well as Food security
would have been addressed. We cannot
also gloss over the quantum leap in our
Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
This is why the current effort of Dr.
Orhii to acquire and deploy these
laboratories must be supported
overwhelmingly by the presidency,
stakeholders in agric-business and
Economic Management Team.
A stitch in time saves nine as the clock of
the one year European Union
moratorium to address the issues of poor
quality and standard confronting our
non oil exports is ticking.
abubakar jimoh below
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