Vice-President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and head of the chamber’s Public Affairs and Advocacy Committee (PAAC), Prince Abimbola Olashore, has decried the exorbitant cost of testing and overly-rigorous processes local businesses have to go through to get approvals from the National Agency for Food and Drug Administrative Control (NAFDAC).
   
Olashore, who said the committee had met several times with Micro, Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (MSMEs) over their challenges, said this issue affects the business climate, undermines private enterprise, interrupts the bottom line while defeating ease of doing business.
 
“Over the years, MSMEs’ long-standing problems with NAFDAC remain unresolved. NAFDAC is not an exception to the bureaucratic processes of MDAs, which are largely responsible for the increased operating costs, wasteful utilisation of samples, and poor competitive standing of Nigerian MSMEs in the wake of the Africa Continental Free Trade Act (AfCFTA).”
  
He said NAFDAC’s charges to obtain certifications or test products are becoming intolerable for many MSMEs, including those businesses that were onboarded at a discounted rate during the pandemic.
   
“The price of tests that businesses that want to get certified have to do, has increased by more than 80 per cent, putting Nigerian businesses at risk of becoming less competitive compared to those of other AfCFTA nations; whose goal is to aggressively penetrate the Nigerian market. The business community has attributed wastefulness to NAFDAC’s habitual sample collection of numerous finished goods.”
 
Speaking on behalf of the chamber, he suggested that NAFDAC revisit and revise the policy so that fewer samples are collected, distributed, or shared to reach the desired quantity for laboratory testing. This procedure, he said, would reduce cost, wastefulness and inefficiency caused by tests and other related obstacles.