By Fredrick Wright

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, (NAFDAC) has read the riot act to the clearing agents and importers operating at the nation’s ports, saying the era of fraudulent activities has come to an end with a view to safeguarding the health of the Nigerian populace and the economy.

    The Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye gave the warning in Abuja at a virtual sensitization workshop organized by the agency for stakeholders in the export and import trade activities at the nation’s ports.

  Adeyeye however, reiterated that NAFDAC would not tolerate any unprofessional act from any of its stakeholders be it importers or clearing agents. She added that the disturbing development where agents and possibly with the connivance of importers engage in falsification of NAFDAC documents will not be tolerated nor treated with kid gloves any longer.

    She was quoted in a statement by the Resident Media Consultant to NAFDAC, Sayo Akintola as saying: “We shall take all legal means as an agency set up by the law of Nigeria to prosecute any erring stakeholder’’.

    She urged importers to always ensure that they make it their responsibility to initiate clearance of their goods.

The NAFDAC boss advised importers to desist from entrusting the entire process of clearance of their consignments to the agents, stressing that whenever the agents run into trouble with the regulatory authorities, they would always want to cut corners, leaving the importer in the lurch at the end of a botched transaction as a result of failure to meet the requirements of the agency.

    Adeyeye explained that NAFDAC has deployed various improvements in its processes that would ensure auto verification of documents presented to the agency during clearing, place in the hand of stakeholders the ability to verify the true status of clearance of regulated products and ensure that we reward clients with low risk profile.

    The NAFDAC DG however, advised all importers and clearing agents to ensure that they complete every clearing transaction with NAFDAC up to the point of generation of NAFDAC electronic Release Notices.

  She reiterated her commitment to the modernization of NAFDAC’s processes and institutionalization of international best practices in the way activities are conducted in the Agency.

    In their goodwill messages, both the Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, Hameed Ibrahim Ali and Director General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria MAN, Segun Ajayi commended the NAFDAC boss for the initiative and synergy amongst government agencies saddled with the responsibility of facilitating import and export trade activities at the nation’s ports.

    The Nigeria Customs Service boss who was represented by Deputy Controller General, Saidu Abubakar, noted that, “this kind of synergy will go a long way in facilitating trade and also create an avenue for reducing major issues that affect our stakeholders”.

  Representatives of MAN DG, Adeyemi Folorunso, noted that the sensitization webinar organized by NAFDAC would help to sanitize the nation’s ports.

He said the workshop would go a long way in curbing fake and counterfeit products in the Nigerian market, stressing that this would invariably help boost the association’s members’ market shares with genuine products.

By Fredrick Wright

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, (NAFDAC) has read the riot act to the clearing agents and importers operating at the nation’s ports, saying the era of fraudulent activities has come to an end with a view to safeguarding the health of the Nigerian populace and the economy.

    The Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye gave the warning in Abuja at a virtual sensitization workshop organized by the agency for stakeholders in the export and import trade activities at the nation’s ports.

  Adeyeye however, reiterated that NAFDAC would not tolerate any unprofessional act from any of its stakeholders be it importers or clearing agents. She added that the disturbing development where agents and possibly with the connivance of importers engage in falsification of NAFDAC documents will not be tolerated nor treated with kid gloves any longer.

    She was quoted in a statement by the Resident Media Consultant to NAFDAC, Sayo Akintola as saying: “We shall take all legal means as an agency set up by the law of Nigeria to prosecute any erring stakeholder’’.

    She urged importers to always ensure that they make it their responsibility to initiate clearance of their goods.

The NAFDAC boss advised importers to desist from entrusting the entire process of clearance of their consignments to the agents, stressing that whenever the agents run into trouble with the regulatory authorities, they would always want to cut corners, leaving the importer in the lurch at the end of a botched transaction as a result of failure to meet the requirements of the agency.

    Adeyeye explained that NAFDAC has deployed various improvements in its processes that would ensure auto verification of documents presented to the agency during clearing, place in the hand of stakeholders the ability to verify the true status of clearance of regulated products and ensure that we reward clients with low risk profile.

    The NAFDAC DG however, advised all importers and clearing agents to ensure that they complete every clearing transaction with NAFDAC up to the point of generation of NAFDAC electronic Release Notices.

  She reiterated her commitment to the modernization of NAFDAC’s processes and institutionalization of international best practices in the way activities are conducted in the Agency.

    In their goodwill messages, both the Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, Hameed Ibrahim Ali and Director General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria MAN, Segun Ajayi commended the NAFDAC boss for the initiative and synergy amongst government agencies saddled with the responsibility of facilitating import and export trade activities at the nation’s ports.

    The Nigeria Customs Service boss who was represented by Deputy Controller General, Saidu Abubakar, noted that, “this kind of synergy will go a long way in facilitating trade and also create an avenue for reducing major issues that affect our stakeholders”.

  Representatives of MAN DG, Adeyemi Folorunso, noted that the sensitization webinar organized by NAFDAC would help to sanitize the nation’s ports.

He said the workshop would go a long way in curbing fake and counterfeit products in the Nigerian market, stressing that this would invariably help boost the association’s members’ market shares with genuine products.