Tag: NAFDAC

The House of Representatives on Thursday, March 14 asked the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to immediately lift the ban placed on the production and sale sachet alcoholic drinks and 200ML pet bottles.

The House said the ban should be lifted immediately because the timing was inappropriate given the fact that the economy was struggling, staggering unemployment, soaring inflation, while the poverty level is on the increase with paucity of forex to do business.

The House resolution followed consideration of the report of the House Committee overseeing the activities of NAFDAC which investigated the ban.

The House said that the ban of sachet alcohol should be replaced with the establishment of licensed liquor stores/outlets in Local Government Areas across the country and making it unlawful to send under aged persons to purchase alcoholic beverages.

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The House also said the process of enforcement should be tighten, with Increased monitoring and compliance checks by NAFDAC, FCCPC, and others to ensure strict product quality in terms of content and safety.

The lawmakers also said that producers of sachet alcohol should expose the dangers associated with the abuse of alcohol sachet products, by boldly inscribing and enumerating the danger on the packs, as obtained in the case of tobacco.

According to the resolutions, government regulatory bodies should place more emphasis on regulation, monitoring and enlightenment campaign to educate stakeholders and the general public on the dangers of under aged consumption of alcohol and its sales in motor parks.

It said enlightenment campaign should be carried out in secondary schools across the country, as practice by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), to educate students on dangers and vices associated with the abuse of alcohol.

The lawmakers said parents, religious bodies and Non -Governmental Organisation (NGOs) should be tasked to counsel their children or ward, especially the under aged, on the danger of alcohol consuniption.

In addition, it said regulatory mechanisms should be strengthened to ensure enforcement and compliance; and (viii) encourage legislation promoting recycling materials for green economy and minimizing importation of raw materials used in producing pet bottles and sachets to conserve Foreign Exchange (FOREX).

The National Agency For Food And Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has sealed two unregistered water-packaging companies for allegedly operating without NAFDAC approval in Ota area of Ogun State.

Mr Philip Benu, State Coordinator, NAFDAC, Ogun 2 Office, Ota, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Ota after the exercise, that the two companies failed to meet NAFDAC requirements for registration.

Benu said that the raid and enforcement were based on routine inspections by regulatory officers in Ogun 2 office, Ota.

He said that the facilities of the two companies were placed on hold with NAFDAC seal and the companies were invited to the office for scrutiny when they were found operating without approval early in the year.

Benu added that at the time of the first inspection there was no body on ground to warrant immediate arrest for questioning at both facilities.

He said that in spite of the seal placed and letters of invitation dropped for the two companies to visit NAFDAC office in Ota, they remained adamant and went ahead to remove those seals placed at the entrances of both companies.

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The NAFDAC state coordinator further said the two companies resumed production of unregistered water products with fake NAFDAC registration numbers, operating in a dirty and unhygienic environment.

” For anyone to produce any registered packaged product, you must have a building or adapted one which must meet the minimum requirements of NAFDAC.

“In addition, for you to get the NAFDAC number, we need to visit your site and ensure that the facilities are okay.

“It is after your product had passed through our laboratory test that NAFDAC would approve a number for you

“We also need to monitor such producers on routine basis to ensure that they are doing the right thing.”

Benu noted that what some of the people were doing was to get any place and buy machines without NAFDAC approval and start producing under one room apartment.

He, however, said that the two companies had been stopped from producing any of the fake products and their machines for production had been evacuated to NAFDAC office in Ota.

Benu said that the enforcement would be a continuous exercise, adding that illegal producers should desist from such act and come and register at NAFDAC office in Ota.

He said that NAFDAC was on surveillance and once anyone was caught, they would face the full wrath of the law.

Benu said there was no hiding place for those producers, who produced without the approval of NAFDAC.(NAN)

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has taken its war against fake products to Bonny Island in Bonny Local Government Area, Rivers State, closing 10 substandard and unregistered bakeries and eight table water factories.

NAFDAC in a statement signed on Tuesday, March 12, by its public relations officer, South-south Zone, Cyril Monye, described the feat as an unprecedented move to rid Rivers of fake and unwholesome products.

Speaking during the operation, NAFDAC Director, South-south Zone, Chukwuma Oligbo said that the action was initiated after the agency’s painstaking investigations and surveillance in line with consumers’ complaints from the Island concerning such bakeries and factories.

Oligbo said: “It was discovered that some of the quack bakeries were producing in ramshackle facilities made with woods and rusty corrugated iron sheets with inappropriate baking equipment while the workers were not properly kitted.

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“The bread was stored in a very unhygienic manner with flies perching on them. Some of the bakeries also bear the names of popular bread in Port Harcourt.

“Most of the bakeries were not registered by NAFDAC and unregistrable because they cannot meet the minimum requirement for registration, while few that were registered by the agency have expired licences or have relocated from their initial place of registration in Port Harcourt to Bonny Island without notifying the agency for formal documentation and mandatory inspections.”

Oligbo further observed that some of the table water factories mostly involved in the production of sachet water were not using filtration equipment.

He said the agency discovered that a facility that was in production of bottled and jar water was manually filling the jars with a locally improvised machine instead of an automated process, which he said was the acceptable standard recommended by NAFDAC.

The zonal director urged those in default of their product license renewal to use the waiver magnanimously provided by the Director-General from January to March and renew their licenses.

He said that NAFDAC was always ready to guide producers in doing the right thing and warned that hard times awaited those, who intentionally flouted NAFDAC regulations.

The three-day operation took NAFDAC to the length and breadth of Finima and Bonny.

Pharmacies and Supermarkets were also inspected where various violations were discovered ranging from unregistered products and unsafe storage of injections.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned medicine vendors operating in open drug markets nationwide to prepare for immediate relocation to the Coordinated Wholesale Centre (CWC) in their respective cities once it becomes operational.

The agency said the move became important 

because the open drug market is a major source of substandard and falsified (SF) medicines in the country. 

Nigeria has one Coordinated Wholesale Centre (CWC) situated in Kano while three additional centres planned for Lagos, Aba, and Onitsha, cities with the highest density of open drug markets are yet to be established.

The warning followed the pronouncement of an Appeal Court in favour of the relocation of the open drug market in Mai Karami Plaza, Niger Street, Malam Kato and Sabon Gari areas of Kano after a protracted legal battle 

Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, the Director General of NAFDAC, described the Appeal Court’s ruling as a monumental landmark, adding that it not only proves the government is on the right course but also emboldens NAFDAC in executing its mandate of safeguarding the health of Nigerians.

She emphasised that due to Nigeria’s unique circumstances, with the open drug market being exclusive to the country, NAFDAC remains committed to its duty of cleansing the pharmaceutical market to eliminate substandard and falsified medicines from circulation in Nigeria.

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She said being the only country where the open drug market exists due to Nigeria’s unique circumstances, NAFDAC will not shirk its responsibility to sanitize the medicine market to curb SF medicines from the Nigerian market. 

Speaking at a briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, Adeyeye lamented that open drug market vendors in Mai Karami Plaza, Niger Street, Malam Kato and Sabon Gari areas of Kano resisted the relocation for a very long time which eventually culminated in a legal action.

She however noted that since the decision to create the CWC was a government decision mainly to curb substandard and falsified medicines and in line with global best practice, justice eventually prevailed.

She said: The CWC in Kano was the first to be built as part of ensuring proper regulation of drug distribution and sale in Nigeria, and mitigation of SFs. 

“The chaotic drug distribution system in Nigeria has been a sore point to drug regulatory Agencies, especially to NAFDAC. 

“This disorderly chain of movement of medicine in the supply chain, from the manufacturer to the final consumer is inimical to the efficacy of pharmaceutical products and is the primary cause of Substandard and Falsified (SF) medicines in circulation. 

“To eliminate SFs, the Presidential Committee on Pharmaceutical Sector Reform (PCPSR), constituted in 2003 to among others, to develop strategies towards the sanitization of the drug distribution system in Nigeria.  

“The Coordinated Wholesale Centres (CWC) is a product of the PCPSR. The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Ali Pate, is one of the architects of CWC and in full support of the Centres”. 

The House of Representatives Committee overseeing the National Agency on Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has ordered the suspension of the ban on the production and sale of spirits and alcoholic drinks in sachets and pet bottles.

The committee headed by former Benue state First Lady, Regina Akume said the suspension should be in force pending its investigations into the issue.

NAFDAC had banned the production and sale of spirits and alcoholic drinks in sachets and single-use plastic with immediate effect, but the House at Plenary directed its committee to investigate the issue.

The House initially declined to instruct NAFDAC to lift the ban.

However, following a meeting involving the regulatory agency and various stakeholders, it was decided that NAFDAC should postpone the enforcement of the ban.

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Those who attended the meeting are Regina Akume and her Deputy Chairman,  Idu Obiajulu; the Minister of State for Health, Tunji Alausa; NAFDAC DG, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye; the DG, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Segun Ajayi- Kadir, representatives of the Food, Beverage & Tobacco Employers and Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria; representatives of the spirits and alcoholic drinks producers;  the Nigerian Police Force; Customs and Excise; Federal Road Safety Corps; organised labour and civil society were present.

The NAFDAC DG told the gathering that the ban was imposed to protect the health and welfare of children, youths, and other vulnerable groups.

But despite her position, the committee aligned itself with the views of the Spirit producers, civil society, and organised labour that the unemployment and hardship being occasioned by the closure of the factories as a result of the ban far outweighed the health concerns being raised by NAFDAC.

The committee observed that the proper step is to put in place control procedures to prevent children and youths from consuming the alcoholic contents of the sachet and pet bottles.

Manufacturers, importers, and suppliers of drugs in Nigeria have been directed to immediately halt the supply or sale of medicines and medical devices at Niger street and Sabon Gari market in Kano, Kano state.

The medicine vendors and suppliers operating in the two locations have been advised by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to immediately relocate to the approved area designated by the State government for the sale of pharmaceutical products.

The agency’s management stated that the development becomes imperative to ensure good distribution of pharmaceuticals, medical devices and prevent circulation of substandard and falsified medicines in the market. 

It also warned that it is important to comply with the directive in light of the recent conclusion of the legal proceedings regarding the matter by the Court of Appeal.

In a press statement on Sunday, February 18, titled ‘Urgent Call to Action: Manufacturers and Importers Urged to Cease Supplying Medicines to Niger Street and Sabon Gari Market, Kano,’ NAFDAC noted that disregarding the warning, issued in collaboration with the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria (PCN) will result in the revocation of the offender’s site and practice licenses.

PCN is charged with the responsibility of regulating and controlling pharmacy education, training and practice in all aspects and ramifications, including regulating pharmacy technicians and patent and proprietary medicines vendors.

The statement by the Resident Media Consultant to NAFDAC, Sayo Akintola reads: “Please recall the last judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal ordering Kano medicine dealers to vacate Niger street/Sabon Gari market and to relocate to the coordinated wholesale center at Dangwauro, Kano. 

“NAFDAC and PCN hereby warn manufacturers, importers, company representatives, and all distributors to from this very moment cease supplying, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and other regulated medical products to facilities or companies in Niger street, Sabon Gari market, or elsewhere outside the coordinated wholesale center in Dangwauro, Kano state.  

“This is to ensure good distribution of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, etc., and prevent circulation of substandard and falsified medicines in the market. 

“Any company found doing this risks losing the site license as well as the product license. Retailers, hospitals and others should also take note.”