The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has declared that there will be no reversal in its decision to ban and phase out some pesticides in the country.
The agency has also revealed its unwavering commitment to intensify efforts aimed at lifting the ban on Nigerian food exports, especially beans.
During a media interactive session on the agency’s 2023 journey on Monday, December 18, the Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, stated that with modest progress in the period under review, the agency is determined to achieve Maturity Level 4 for both the agency and the country, among other set targets for the upcoming year.
Emphasizing the irreversibility of the banned pesticides, the DG affirmed that the Veterinary Medicines and Allied Products Directorate has recently initiated the phase-out action plan for certain pesticide active ingredients.
According to her, the initial pesticide facing a ban, Paraquat, will be enforced from January 1, 2024.
Following that, the ban on Chlorpyrifos is set to take effect from November 1, 2024, and the ban on Atrazine will come into effect from January 1, 2025.
In addition, the DG said 12 active ingredients are on the ban/phase-out table. These include Carbofuran, Clothianidin, Diquat Dibromide, Diquate Dichloride, Ametryn, Anthraquinone, Carbendazim, Chlorothalonil, Oxadiargyle, Thiacloprid, Methomyl and Thiamethoxam.
According to her, four others – Fipronil, Permethrin, Cyfluthrin and Amitraz are on reclassification.
Expressing concern over the detrimental impact of the ban on Nigerian food exports, particularly the inability to export produce like beans to Europe, the Americas, and other regions, Adeyeye emphasized that NAFDAC is steadfast in its efforts to alter this narrative.
She said: “NAFDAC is assiduously putting in place processes that will result in lifting of ban on food exports such as Beans.
“The efforts include visiting UK counterparts (UK Veterinary and UK Food Safety Agency), working with sister agencies and strengthening our processes, including developing a regulation that serves and legal framework”.
Regarding the modest achievements accomplished in the outgoing year, the DG said that regulatory approvals were granted for the malaria vaccine, MpPox, and Human papillomavirus (HPV) during the year.
She noted that NAFDAC successfully fulfilled its mandate through meticulous adherence to due diligence, the commitment of its workforce, and collaboration with both local and international partners in executing its responsibilities.
Adeyeye pointed out that the attainment of ML3 and the Quality Management System (QMS) was made possible through various audits by relevant global bodies, saying, “The annual QMS Audit aims to ensure continuous improvement in our processes and customer service.”
“The Global Benchmarking Tool (GBT) World Health Organization (WHO) Audit team visited NAFDAC to monitor three regulatory processes under Regulatory Inspection, Market Authorization, and Laboratory Testing.
“We have thus achieved a successful WHO GMP inspection observed audit and have since rolled out our roadmap for the attainment of ML4 by next year”.
She also stated that the recent WHO pre-qualification of the Yaba Central Drug Control Laboratory (CDCL) has officially elevated Nigeria to the exclusive group of countries with WHO certification.
The achievement not only grants global recognition to Nigeria but also confirms the Yaba laboratory’s adherence to international standards for drugs originating from Nigeria intended for export.
She also highlighted the agency’s strong reliance on collaboration with similar global agencies to enhance its operations, saying, “NAFDAC has made herself available to capacity building of other sister agencies in Africa for one regulatory function or the other.
She said: “Botswana and Uganda came to understudy NAFDAC on Traceability.
“This is also called Reliance. NAFDAC herself is developing relationships with other regulatory agencies for information sharing and capacity building.
“Examples of such agencies include US FDA; UK VET; TGA; MHRA, South Korea NRA; Saudi Arabia FDA; South Africa SAHPRA; Egypt EDA LAUNCH OF NAFDAC ONLINE TRAINING SCHOOL Training is ongoing in NAFDAC, local and international.
“To further enhance the capacity of the staff and bring training closer, the Online Training School was launched in October 2023.”
The DG noted that the agency is conscious of the evolving global technology space and is not ready to be left behind which has resulted in the digitization of its system.
In spite of the financial challenges facing the agency, she mentioned that the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Unit has initiated the digitization of a well-organized database encompassing NAFDAC-approved human medicines from 2018 to the present.
The database includes a comprehensive Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) Classification based on the WHO ATC system.
Additionally, the agency has launched the registered drug product database system, accessible on both the web and mobile application platforms.
“This would place the needed information on drugs registered by the Agency at the fingertips of the public. Investigation and Enforcement Directorate has been busy with joint inspection/seizures and destruction exercise of banned or unregistered products”.
She also affirmed that the agency met its obligations in surveillance and enforcement, with the Directorate destroying 135 truckloads of fake, counterfeit, and spurious seized products.
Furthermore, damaged or expired products voluntarily submitted by stakeholders were disposed of, amounting to an estimated street value of approximately N16b.
NAFDAC conducted numerous raids in the South-East and South-South regions, spanning nine states, resulting in the recovery of counterfeit Diageo products valued at over N38m.
Additionally, in Lagos State and Abuja, several locations were raided, leading to the recovery and seizure of counterfeit products valued at over N200m.
She mentioned that a collaborative sting operation conducted at Eziukwu Market (Cemetery Market) in Aba, Abia State, resulted in the identification and destruction of counterfeit alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks valued at over N750m.
Furthermore, 10 suspects were apprehended and are slated for prosecution, while emphasizing that the sealed market would remain closed until a commitment is obtained from the traders to comply with the rules.
