A Food Agriculture Organisation (FAO) consultant, Prof. Funso Sonaiya is seeking for efforts to strengthen agricultural produce standards to halt produce rejection in European markets.
He said emphasis should be on value chain, post-harvest handling as well as improving quality to enable the country produce meets set standards for export to international markets.
Some exporters have lost money to food exports due to failure to meet to EU’s requirements. EU has some of the most comprehensive food safety standards in the world, and a well-established system of controls to ensure that those standards are met. But the EU is also a market that is open, encouraging trade with partner countries across the globe.
Sonaiya, who spoke with The Nation, said the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has set standards, which farmers must follow to avoid rejection if they are to tap into wider markets. He said the measures aimed at protecting exports from diseases, pests, or contaminants, adding that importing countries must have confident that they can rely on Nigerian food safety system and be confident that food imported from here is safe.
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