The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Moji Adeyeye, has vowed that Nigeria will no more be a dumping ground for chemicals banned in other countries.
A statement by the agency’s media consultant, Olusayo Akintola, said Adeyeye also explained that it was not true that 40 per cent of the registered brands of pesticide products in Nigeria were banned or restricted for use by European Union.
“The agency has put in place procedures to enable it take regulatory decisions and determine whether an active ingredient should be banned or restricted.
“NAFDAC is a signatory to the international convention that banned chemicals and pesticides, such as the Rotterdam Convention, an international treaty designed to facilitate informed decision-making by countries with regard to trade in hazardous chemicals and pesticides.
“NAFDAC is ISO: 900: 2015 Quality Management System (QMS) and a certified organisation that has put in place procedures that enable the agency take regulatory decisions to determine whether an active ingredient should be banned or restricted.
“Chemicals banned by international convention have been phased out and never entertained for registration or given import permits as raw materials for production as a sovereign state,” she said.
The NAFDAC boss said the agency has stringent requirement of ensuring that any pesticide to be imported into Nigeria is on the market in the exporting country, the current Free Sale Certificate is authenticated by the Nigerian Embassy in the exporting country.
She added that in order to ensure that only active ingredients approved by the agency are allowed into the country, appointed testing agents (CRIA) and laboratories are to conduct tests and forward results to the agency before any pesticide is shipped in.
Adeyeye said the World Health Organization (WHO) names four toxicity classes of pesticides: Class I – a: extremely hazardous, Class I – b: highly hazardous, Class II: moderately hazardous, Class III: slightly hazardous, Class U: Unlikely to present acute hazard.
She said the classifications are for guidance purposes to enable users to take necessary precautionary measures and to ensure the safety of food for humans, animals, and the environment.
