Remarks by Prof. Adeyeye C M,
Director General NAFDAC
NAFDAC Export Stakeholder Interactive Session on
NAFDAC Export Regulations
NAFDAC PID Conference Centre, Yaba, Lagos
20th May, 2024.
PROTOCOL
I was quite curious to find out today what exactly the Cocoa Stakeholders are concerned with, especially in the draft Cocoa regulations we have posted for comments.
First, let me sincerely thank all the stakeholders gathered today for taking such time to be here. You will agree with me that this is an unusual meeting where I want to hear from you directly on these critical issues of trade facilitation and how we can forge a common front, speaking with one voice for the mutual good of the Country.
Regulations are legal instruments for control and elucidation of standards for the compliance of all stakeholders in the manufacture, importation, exportation, distribution, advertisement, sale and use of regulated products. Regulations derive from the enabling enactments and stipulate red lines and penalties against infringement. NAFDAC which is now a WHO ML3 Regulatory Agency has, under my leadership, updated and gazetted 21 new regulations covering many areas of our regulatory activities. Export regulations is just one of the several regulations that are in the process of being gazetted into law.
As you are all aware, the shameful state of our regulated products which are packaged, and for most of the time, exported without NAFDAC certification failed at the entry borders and reports have accumulated to put Nigeria at a disadvantage in international commerce. A number of our products are already on the red list of some importing nations. This has been the outcome of years of poor oversight and lack of regulatory supervision of the quality and safety components of regulated products produced, packaged and presented for export.
These enabling laws have placed the responsibility of regulation and control of the quality and safety of these products on NAFDAC. We have continued to pursue regulatory interventions at both local and international levels to ensure we are not totally and completely banned from exporting any kind of food product in international commerce.
You may recall during our last Export Stakeholder Engagement at the Digital Bridge Institute, Lagos in May, 2024, that the Industry and the Regulators, including sister Government Agencies agreed to join hands to push the frontiers of regulated product export to the next level in the interest of all stakeholders and the nation at large.
These regulatory interventions are critical for the survival of Nigeria’s trade across international borders where trade laws and compliance are viewed with serious evaluation.
Today’s engagement is therefore meant to put these concerns in perspective, to bridge the knowledge gap and allay all fears in order to foster the necessary collaboration required to move our regulated product exports to the desired rating in international trade.
Feedback following the hosting of the Draft Cocoa Export Regulations on our website for public opinion have revealed the following concerns:
- Does NAFDAC have the regulatory capacity and competence to superintend over Regulated products export certification?
- Is NAFDAC the statutory authority to certify regulated products for export?
- Are NAFDAC Laboratories suitably qualified and accredited to perform the functions of tests and certification of regulated products for export?
- Are NAFDAC Certificates recognized as “competent authority” in international commerce?
- Will NAFDAC not constitute a clog in the progress of regulated product export trade in terms timelines?
- Is this not another revenue generation opportunity for NAFDAC?
It is our desire to address these and other concerns in the course of today’s engagement, and I plead with all our stakeholders to relax and be ready for an open and profitable discourse during today’s interaction in the overall interest of our exporters and the nation.
Once again, I welcome you to this interactive session and I hope we will leave here satisfied that though tough decisions will be made arising from today’s interactive, it will ultimately be to our benefit and that of our Country at large.
I thank you for coming.
Director General/CEO NAFDAC
