The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has promised to ensure that the standard and quality of regulated products are not compromised despite the prevailing economic hardship being experienced across the country.
The assurance was given by the NAFDAC South-West Coordinator, Mrs. Roseline Ajayi, during a one-day stakeholders’ interactive meeting organised by the agency in Akure, Ondo State.
He said that the Director General of NAFDAC, Professor Mojisola Adeleye, had introduced some measures as an intervention to ease the burden on the agency’s stakeholders.
Ajayi stated, “It is a call on all stakeholders operating in the regulatory space to embrace and confront the dynamic nature of the business environment with a view to exploring the opportunities inherent in the challenges.
“It is a statement of fact that the business environment is experiencing several challenges including subsidy removal, unpredictable exchange rates, unstable power supply and other issues threatening business sustainability.
“However, those engaged in NAFDAC-regulated products must come to the understanding that safety, standard and quality are not negotiable.
“And because of economic hardship, our DG has opened a window of three months administrative charges waivers for late renewal of the license of the stakeholders from January to the end of March.”
She warned that anybody caught selling or producing unregistered products would be penalised with administrative charges
Ajayi explained that the stakeholders’ meeting was in line with the directives of the NAFDAC DG, adding, “The purpose of this meeting is aimed at safeguarding the health of the nation.
“We want to ensure that only the right quality and safe products are made available for the consumers in the country because it’s unauthorised and a violation of the law for anybody to produce unhealthy products,” she added.
Ajayi also advised Nigerians to patronise only registered products, either imported or locally made, for their health benefits, saying, “Let our consumers be careful of what they are consuming and stop patronising products without NAFDAC registration numbers.
“If you continue to patronise them, you are as well encouraging them to do more, but without you patronising them, they will go out of the business.”
Also, Mr. Charles Uwachukwu, a director in the NAFDAC Lagos office, enjoined manufacturers to be mindful of what they produce for human consumption.
“Don’t adulterate your products because you are serving people not animals. And if you can’t take what you are producing, there is no reason to go into production.
“Don’t produce what will jeopardise our health. If you are a supermarket owner and you revalidate your product, the law will catch up with you,” he warned
Meanwhile, Chairman, Association of Table Water Producers, Akure zone, Mr. Mapay Rotimi, appreciated the NAFDAC DG for the three-month licence waivers offered to them.
He, however, called on the agency to regulate the issuance of licenses to the water producers in the state.
“In the two local governments, which comprises Akure zone, about 150 water producers are given licenses
“And in the process of competing with one another, some of us might be tempted to reduce the quality in order to push products into the market.
“So, it is our concern that NAFDAC issuance of licenses should be strict,” Rotimi appealed.
SOURCE: Punch Healthwise