24 Nigerian food products rejected by the EU in 2016 – NAFDAC
– The European Union rejected 24 exported food products from Nigeria in 2016
– Out of the 24, the major products rejected were palm oil, sesame seed, groundnut, and beans
– The products were illegally exported and were not certified at the ports by the agency and the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Services
Twenty four exported food products from Nigeria were rejected by the European Union (EU) in 2016 for failing to meet standards, NAN reports.
This was disclosed by the National Agency for Food Drug administration Control (NAFDAC) spokesman, Abubakar Jimoh, in an interview with the news agency in Abuja on Monday, June 5. According to Jimoh, among the 24 rejected products, the major ones were palm oil, sesame seed, groundnut, and beans, which were illegally exported to the EU.
The NAFDAC spokesman also gave reasons why the products were rejected noting that groundnut was rejected due to the fact that it contained aflatoxin, which made the quality substandard.
He further stated: “The exported palm oil did not scale through the EU’s test because it also contained a coloring agent that was carcinogenic.
“Beans was banned by EU sometime ago but it was illegally exported to European countries. “Beans was initially banned for one year, when EU was not satisfied with our exported beans in terms of quality assurance, it extended the ban by another two years, which expires next year.
“NAFDAC and other regulatory agencies of the government are working round the clock to ensure that when the ban is lifted, we can then begin to export more agricultural products to EU.”
Jimoh, who also doubles as the NAFDAC director of special duties disclosed that most of the smuggled products were not certified at the ports by the agency and the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Services.
Meanwhile plusmilang.com previously reported that Michel Arrion, the ambassador and head of EU Delegation to Nigeria, has revealed that the EU will spend €150 million (N50 billion) on development of the power sector in Nigeria.
He said this while speaking at the fifth edition of the EU-Nigeria Business Forum (EUNIBF) pre-event briefing in Lagos. Arrion revealed that the grant would be used mainly for training young engineers and funding some technical aspects of the power sector.
