NAFDAC laboratories
And NAQS packhouse in Lagos on Friday
To eliminate the incidences of rejection of Nigerian agricultural produce abroad for lack of proper certification, authorities at National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Services (NAQS) are working on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to streamline the processes of certification of agro export produce.
The partnership which would streamline export of agricultural commodities and finish products outside this country, was made known on Friday during a visit of Aviacargo Roadmap Committee setup by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to laboratories of the NAFDAC and NAQS in Lagos.
The visit was to have a first hand knowledge of the processes involved in certifying agro commodities for export and the challenges faced by exporters in meeting the required standard for their produce.
It would be recalled that there have been recurrent rejections of Nigerian agro-products exported abroad in the recent time; because of what some industry watchers attributed to non-adherence of Nigerian exporters to best practices and disregard for basic export requirements of receiving countries.
Speaking at the NAFDAC central laboratory in Lagos, Director Laboratory Service, Dr. Charles Nwachukwu said the Director General, NAFDAC, Professor Moji Adeyeye, is deeply concerned over the rejection of Nigerian products abroad adding that the agency is collaborating with NAQS to reverse the trend.
Nwachukwu added that NAFDAC and NAQS are working out a Memorandum of Understanding to streamline the process of certification of export products out of Nigeria
He said: “The Director General of NAFDAC is seriously concerned about the rejects of our commodities in Europe and in every part of the world. I am glad that Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Services (NAQS) is working with us on this. There are series of meetings that are ongoing to streamline export of agricultural commodities and finish product outside this country. And these meetings have been held bilaterally and in the presence of the director general of NAFDAC, and the Comptroller General, NAQS and their interest is to see how they can streamline things and see what we have to do about the various certifications that are required. We are ready to partner with anybody to grow the Nigerian system, whether it is in the interest of export or health and we are seriously involved in this.
“One of the criteria we are using, is that we want to encourage exporters to have a good certification. There is nowhere in the world they have rejected the certificate of NAFDAC because we have one of the best laboratories in Africa. NAFDAC has about seven laboratories and five of them are concerned with food. This place is a center of excellence and we have one of the best facilities in the lab and we are improving on the laboratory equipment that are available.
“In recent times, we advised NAQS to issue phytosanitary certificate. But phytosanitary certificate may not go into the contaminants that are necessary for a healthy food to be transported from Nigeria to wherever they are being exported to, and NAFDAC does that by issuing clean certificate of health. And both certificates can be acceptable anywhere in the world.
“So, we are not undermining the activity of anybody, so the much we can do is to streamline the system to ensure that those who are exporting do not have to spend so much money and so much time, that is concern of the two agencies.
“The committee of the two agencies, NAFDAC and NAQS are working out an MoU to streamline the process of certification, that is the passion of the Director General NAFDAC and Comptroller General NAQS.”
He added that NAFDAC is offering laboratory services for export products free of charge adding that the export rejects have been a major concern between the two agencies.
“This is why we are trying to see what we can do to avoid those rejects,” he added.
Earlier in his address, Coordinator, Aviacargo Committee, Mr Ikechi Uko, said part of the reasons for visiting the labs was to understand the processes agro-products in the country pass through to get certified before they are exported abroad.
“We need to be number one in Africa, in a hurry for the simple fact that we have the largest economy in Africa, we have busy airports many products and the largest population, we want to be the hub for cargo movements in West Africa.
“Kenya is ranked number one in Africa, yet it has a smaller economy and a smaller population, what are we not doing right in Nigeria where we have busier airports and a larger population and vast arable land?” Uko inquired.
