National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) yesterday in Abuja sealed a Chinese supermarket for allegedly selling goods labelled in Chinese without proper notification.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the supermarket is situated at Azba Mall, 2 Durban Street, Wuse 2, Abuja. Speaking with newsmen after the exercise, NAFDAC Director of Investigation and Enforcement, Shaba Mohammed, said the agency received credible information about the supermarket.

He stated that the information indicated that all the items being sold at the supermarket were labelled in Chinese, a situation that, he said, violated NAFDAC regulations.

Mohammed, who is also the Chairman of the Federal Task Force on Counterfeit, Fake Drugs and Unwholesome Processed Foods, said that upon receiving the information, NAFDAC swiftly acted to investigate the situation.

He noted that the agency would investigate why over 90 per cent of the goods in the supermarket were labelled in a foreign language and how they were imported into the country.

The director also disclosed that some of the affected goods had expired but were still on the supermarket’s shelves.

“The supermarket was sealed for violating NAFDAC regulations. Investigations will continue regarding this supermarket. We will also visit its warehouse to stop them from selling certain products.’’

“We just received information about this supermarket. If we had known earlier, we would have taken the regulatory action we just carried out sooner.

“Selling items in a foreign language in this country violates our laws. If you must sell anything in Arabic, Chinese, French, or any other language, there must be an English translation.

“More than 90 per cent of the goods sold in the supermarket are labelled in Chinese. Some Nigerians patronise the supermarket, and they should be able to read about the items on the shelves.

“Some of these items have also expired. Even if they were granted global listing for importation, they ought to be labelled in English.

“This supermarket cannot provide NAFDAC with documentation showing that the items were approved despite being labelled in a foreign language.

“This is unacceptable, and that is why we had to seal the supermarket. We will invite the owner for further investigation before concluding the case,” he said.

The director stated that if the supermarket was found culpable of violating NAFDAC regulations, appropriate punitive action would be taken.

“Not every case is taken to court. We will take regulatory action against the supermarket, which may include administrative measures.

“Before NAFDAC issues any certification, the agency visits the site or shop to inspect goods storage and distribution practices.

“During such visits, NAFDAC ensures that the facilities comply with its regulations,” he said. Mohammed further stated that the supermarket might have bypassed NAFDAC in the process of importing some of the goods into the country.

“NAFDAC would not allow items with descriptions solely in a foreign language to pass through the ports. They would have been intercepted immediately,” he said.