Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) have collaborated to address the alarming rejection of the country’s agricultural products at the international market.
Executive Director of NEPC, Mrs. Nonye Ayeni, said the move followed complaints that Nigerian exporters were not adhering to standard procedures and parameters.
Represented by Regional Coordinator, Southwest, she said the programme was to mitigate non-oil export rejection, while also increasing exporters’ capacity to do more .
According to her, some of the major reasons why Nigeria is having its export rejected are due to exporters trying to bypass necessary documentation processes.
Also speaking, Deputy Director, Export Division, Ports Inspection Directorate, NAFDAC, Oluwaseyi Sanwoolu, reiterated the agency’s drive to facilitate export trade, adding that it has put in place processes and systems for processing export of standard products in line with the economic diversification policy of the Federal Government.
She highlighted some of the challenges faced by exporters to include lack of joint inspection of regulated products at export terminals of ports, ineffective monitoring of terminals, inadequate awareness of processes and unprofessional acts of consolidation of consignments.
On his part, General Manager, Neroli Technologies Limited Pre-shipment Inspection Agent (PIA), Ajayi Olatunde, noted that a lot of exporters do not engage in what he described as “proper export.”
He added: “If after this meeting, the exporters agree to work with us and do the right thing, rejection would be zero. Exporters also need to do more research before they export their products.”
