The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, has identified some of the reasons Nigerian food products are rejected in the United Kingdom. This somehow applies to other countries as well.
According to her, these include non-compliance with advisory guidelines established by the agency, and unwillingness of exporters to comply with minimal sanitary measures.
Adeyeye, further explained that a scheduled side event with the UK Food Standard Agency was recently organized to change the narrative and stop the rejection of Nigerian food products in the international market.
The meeting, she said, was held during the recently concluded workshop on the Nigeria-UK Enhanced Trade & Investment Partnership in London.
It was hosted under the UK-Developing Country Trading Scheme with the Nigerian delegation led by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, & Investment.
Speaking recently, at a press briefing in Abuja, Adeyeye said she was represented by the Director, Ports Inspection Directorate and Head of Office of Trade and International Relations, Dr Abimbola Adegboye.
Adeyeye said the agency also engaged the FSA on the non-notifications on such rejects and non-engagement of the agency on the matter and the need for mutual recognition of electronic certification of both government agencies of export certification, among others.
Her words “The challenges bedevilling the export process of NAFDAC regulated products especially, assuring safety and quality status of food exports in Nigeria has been traced to non-compliance with advisory guidelines established by NAFDAC to encourage participatory exports. “
She asserted that almost all exported food products are processed without statutory testing by NAFDAC. Therefore, it is not surprising that all the items exported without NAFDAC quality control and safety tests are rejected.
