FG inaugurates committee on rejection of Nigerian agro exports

Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo, yesterday, inaugurated a committee to look into the issue of rejection of Nigeria’s agro produce in the international market.

The committee, which drawn its members from the ministry and some parastatals of the ministry and Ministry of Agriculture, is headed by the Director, Commodities and Export Department, Suleiman Audu, and is charged with the responsibility of identifying the major causes of the rejection of the agro produce and proffer appropriate recommendations.

Inaugurating the committee, the Minister in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Ifedayo Sayo, said the Federal Government placed a lot of emphasis on the promotion of non-oil commodity exports, which has led to farmers and product aggregators partnering to explore the export market for their products.

He noted that in recent times, Nigeria’s agro products have been suffering from export rejection by most countries of Asia, Europe and America.

This, he explained, has led to huge financial losses with its attendant negative impact on the supply value chain and job creation.

He stressed that the international market is competitive and welcomes products of high quality with relevant certifications and quality packaging that is environmentally friendly.

Adebayo said the problem of quality, standard, certification and appropriate packaging for made-in-Nigeria products for export has been a recurring issue hence the need to set up the technical committee to address the issue and proffer appropriate recommendations.

The terms of reference for the committee include, identifying the major causes for the export reject of Nigerian agro commodities, determining the roles played by exporters or institutional infractions that tend to promote export reject of Nigerian agro commodities, suggesting measures necessary to strengthen the capacity of exporters to improve the quality, standard, certification, and packaging.

Others include, to develop the policy framework for Global Gap certification and quality packaging that is environmentally friendly for global trade; suggest ways of getting government at all levels to support farmers to key into Global Gap certification for increased productivity and export; suggest appropriate model/partnership for development of standard storage facilities for products before arriving at their final destinations among others.

The Minister told the committee that the nation was looking forward to the outcome of the assignment given to them as an antidote to the rejection being suffered by Nigerian exporters at the international market.

He gave the committee six weeks within which to submit its report.