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FG Loses $1Billion Annually As Agric Products Do Not Receive International Certification
Food

FG Loses $1Billion Annually As Agric Products Do Not Receive International Certification 

The country has lost close to $1 billion as a result of the Federal government’s failure to get international health and safety certificates for agricultural exports.

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

Since they do not adhere to the necessary safety and health requirements, the majority of the agricultural goods exported from the nation, such as yam, mangoes, shrimp, garlic, and ginger, do not reach the more important international markets.

Although having more farm products to export than other neighboring nations, including ginger, palm kernel, palm oil, cocoa butter, sesame seed, honey, shrimp, garlic, and others, Nigeria has not reaped the multibillion-dollar rewards from the agricultural economy.

According to an industry participant who talked to THISDAY, Kingsley Nwokoma, Nigeria is now losing a significant amount of money—more than $1 billion annually—due to the non-certification of its agricultural products.

Agricultural goods from other African nations, such as Ghana, Cameroon, and Mali, have reached the requisite requirements to be certified fit for international consumption.

Ghana gained around GH50 billion, or $4.2 billion, in 2021 from sales of farm commodities such as plantains, mangoes, and yams.

The European Union, the United Kingdom, and several US states demand Good Agricultural Products (GAP) certification, as well as Sanitary Certification and Good Agricultural Sector Certification from many EU nations and other Western markets.

Mojisola Adeyeye, the director-general of NAFDAC, stated in 2021 that over 76% of Nigerian agricultural exports are refused when sold overseas.

Adeyeye also accused exporters of skipping regulatory processes, noting that the majority of food goods rejected overseas did not pass through the necessary NAFDAC and Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Services inspection (NAQS).

“So the people that are exporting are either taking shortcuts or they’re being deceived that their products are okay, just ship it, we will take care of it,

“…About 76 per cent of our products are rejected by the EU and it is NAFDAC that is informed using the rapid alert systems that these products have been rejected,” she said.

Because finished goods intended for export do not reach the shelves and superstores in the UK and other areas of Europe, farmers have had to reduce production as a result of this rejection of farm products from Nigeria.

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