Over 70% of food taken from Nigeria rejected abroad – NAFDAC

The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, said on Saturday more than 70 percent of food exported from Nigeria was rejected abroad.

Adeyeye, who spoke at the official commissioning of the new NAFDAC office complex at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, said the rejection of the food had deprived the exporters and the country of huge revenue.

She, however, called for collaboration between NAFDAC and other agencies at the ports in a bid to address the problem.

Adeyere commended the police and Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) over the relationship between the three government agencies.

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She said: “Over 70 percent of the products that leave our ports get rejected. Considering the money spent on getting those products out of the country, it is a double loss for both the exporter and the country.

“Let me emphasise the importance of synergy among the agencies. Without customs, we will not be able to do a lot of what we have been able to do.

“Also, without the police, NAFDAC cannot do much in terms of investigation and enforcement.

“We have over 80 policemen with us in NAFDAC. They help us a lot when we are doing raids or investigations as the case may be.”

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