The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has dispelled the insinuation that 40 percent of the registered brands (not actives) of pesticide products used in Nigeria are either banned or restricted for use by EU, thereby endangering the lives of people, animals, and the environment in Nigeria.

The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye in a statement by the Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola said that NAFDAC is ISO: 900: 2015 Quality Management System (QMS) certified organization that has put in place procedures to enable the Agency to take regulatory decisions to determine whether an active ingredient should be banned or restricted.  

“NAFDAC is a signatory to the international Convention that banned chemicals and pesticides such as the Rotterdam Convention, an international treaty designed to facilitate informed decision-making by countries with regard to trade in hazardous chemicals and Pesticides.”

“Chemicals banned by international convention have been phased out and never entertained for registration or given import permits as raw materials for production.”

“As a sovereign state, Nigeria has regulatory bodies empowered to regulate and control the production, importation, exportation, distribution, advertisement, sale, and use of such chemical products.”

Adeyeye pointed out that NAFDAC is saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that chemical products produced in Nigeria and those being imported into the country meet the prerequisite in-country approval as well as international standards, and NAFDAC has a stringent requirement of ensuring that any pesticide to be imported into Nigeria is on the Market in the exporting country the current Free Sale Certificate is authenticated by the Nigerian Embassy in the exporting country. 

“In order to ensure that only active ingredients approved by NAFDAC are allowed into the country, NAFDAC Appointed Testing Agents (CRIA) and Laboratories to conduct tests and forward results to the Agency before any Pesticide is shipped from countries that are major exporters of Agrochemicals into Nigeria.”

“The World Health Organization(WHO) names four toxicity classes of pesticides: Class I  a: extremely hazardous, Class I  b: highly hazardous, Class II: moderately hazardous, Class III: slightly hazardous, Class U: Unlikely to present acute hazard.”

‘’These classifications are for guidance purposes to enable users to take necessary precautionary measures to ensure the safety of food, humans, animals, and the environment,” she said.

Adeyeye further assured Nigerians that adequate quality control tests are carried out by the Agency before granting certifications for all products that are either imported or manufactured within the country. 

“In addition, the field trial evaluation is conducted in collaboration with research institutes in Nigeria to determine the safety, quality and efficacy of new molecules as well as inspection of manufacturing facilities to establish that a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) is in place to ensure that product manufactured meets the quality standard specification for the intended use.”

‘’Other regulatory activities include but are not limited to the issuance of authority to clear, continual sensitization and awareness exercises for relevant stakeholders on safe and responsible use of pesticides, Post-Marketing Surveillance to Mop-up fake/unregistered/expired products, and the Destruction of seized products.”

“EU uses much lower Maximum Residual Limits (MRLs) than most other CODEX member countries, hence the EU raised observations for the codex secretariat and subsequently WTO to take note. 

Adeyeye explained that products with active ingredients that are accepted by other codex member countries including Nigeria are not allowed into the EU.