The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has said that some Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) bypass the registration process with the agency, preventing their products from being properly tested before been put on the market.
This was stated by the agency’s Director-General, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, in a statement issued on Sunday by Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola.
She said, “Some people that have products that they think could be exported, take shortcuts. They do not go to NAFDAC to test their products before they are exported.
“Thereafter, the government of the receiving country stops the product, and they reject it and destroy it. We all need to learn not to take shortcuts.”
READ ALSO: Colombia To Export Dried Cannabis Flowers For Medical Use
Speaking on the role MSMEs play in global economies, she noted that they contributed “up to 33 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in emerging economies.”
She added that “In a recent review of a 2017 survey on MSMEs, it was revealed that in Nigeria, there were 41.4 million MSMEs and about 99 percent belonged to the micro sub-sector”.
“MSMEs are the bedrock of Nigeria’s industrialization and inclusive economic development and the most important component of industrialization as set out in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan of the Federal Government.”
Adeyeye said that the agency was conducting a training exercise for MSMEs in line with global best standards.
She said, “The ongoing training and re-training of prospective NAFDAC Applicants/MSMEs entrepreneurs on principles of Good Agricultural Practices and other relevant techniques, are helping in yielding the desired reduction of such failures.”
