Minna – The Nigerian Agency for Food and Drug Administration and
Control (NAFDAC), has announced the banning of foreign beans into the country
except those screened by the Agency.
The Acting Director General of the
Agency, Mrs. Yetunde Oni who disclosed this at the awareness/Sensitization
Workshop on Safe and Responsible use of Regulated Agricultural inputs for
Stakeholders in the North Central Zone in Minna Wednesday emphasized that only
beans screened by the Agency will be allowed into the country in order to be
sure of their safety. According to her “We must recall that these banned beans produce
that have been banned in the European Union (EU) are those ones that never
passed through NAFDAC.
All
the beans that passed through NAFDAC and issued EU certification to, of food
and health impart on Nigerians do not get rejected. The ones that have been
banned are those ones that never passed through NAFDAC”. She however called on
all relevant Agencies to be awake to their responsibilities by working hand in
hand with the Agency to actuaize this objective. “It is not entirely the
function of NAFDAC, but the primary assignment of the Quarantine which is under
the Ministry of Agriculture to look into beans because it is an Agricultural
produce”, she ad used.
On
whose purview the produce is regulated, she said ”beans is an agricultural
produce, as opposed to a semi or fully processed regulated product under the
purview of NAFDAC and such products are food, drugs, medical devices,
chemicals, packaged water and detergents.
These
are the ones that are under our purview. “But because we have seen that the beans
is a raw material into a final product that is regulated by NAFDAC, we are now
talking of collaboration with one another so that all relevant stakeholders
will join hands towards a common goal of ensuring that only good quality
regulated products are available for consumption, for sales, distribution,
advertisement, information and importation into the country.”
By
Wole Mosadomi
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