The European Union (EU) is one of the largest importers of agro commodities from Nigeria. Despite the benefits of such produce, however, there is a growing awareness in the EU and the United States (U.S) on the microbial and chemical challenges of the produce. In the EU, for instance, food-borne diseases were linked to the consumption of vegetables, fruits and juices from Africa.
This has led to the imposition of a ban on some agro produce while the number of rejections of fresh produce due to non-compliance with EU requirements has also increased in the last few years. Countries exporting to EU now face stringent legislative requirements – the major being that produce entering the EU market must comply with food safety requirements, such as maximum limits on pesticide residues and absence of microbial pathogens.
Beside these, compliance to hygiene requirements is to be documented and certificates of phytosanitary health issued.
As much as this is well accepted in the interest of food safety, exporters from Nigeria and other developing countries are not finding the task of meeting the requirements easy.
The consequence of non compliance is severe, in terms of material and monetary losses quoted in dollars and Euro value.
Worried by the economic losses suffered by Nigerians due to the rejection and ban of food considered to be unsafe at EU borders, the Export Group, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), organised a one-day National Agro-Commodity Export Stakeholders Forum in Lagos.
The forum was for stakeholders to strategise on how to acheive better compliance with food safety and quality standards as required by the EU.
Addressing the forum, LCCI President Alhaji Remi Bello said there was the need to tackle food safety issues given the constraints in the exportation of some produce because of the ban by the EU.
Bello, who spoke through the Director-General, Mr Muda Yusuf, stressed the need to keep participants up to date with EU laws to facilitate access for their produce into the EU market to redfuce the rejection rate.
According to him, the main problem is the quality of the produce delivered by exporters. To address this, he said there was the need to provide more credit support to exporters to acquire necessary facilities and equipment to meet international standards.
Bello said figures from the Central Bank Economic Report for the second quarter of the year stated that: “The total non-oil export earnings by Nigerian exporters during the second quarter of 2015 stood at $631.54 million, indicating a decline of 64.9 and 75.1 per cent below the levels in the preceding quarter and the corresponding period of 2014, respectively”.
Bello said the quest for diversification of the economy cannot be attained without access to the international market. He urged the government to make available special intervention funds for exporters to boost their capacity to compete with international brands and products. He also urged stakeholders in the agric sector to devote resources and efforts to pursue the standardisation of products for the international markets across the globe.
Chairman, Export Group, LCCI, Dr Obiora Madu, said there were questions begging for answers . He asked rhetorically: “Is it that the relevant government agencies charged with regulating the industry have left the industry to regulate itself, thus, allowing some unscrupulous exporters to cause this mess the country has found itself? Is it because the technical personnel at these government agencies are too thin on the ground to effectively monitor the goings on both at production and inspections at exit points?”
He observed that non-oil exports from the country have continued to face mass rejection at entry points in Europe for failure to comply with standards specified by the countries.
The rejected exports are mainly in the food and beverage segment. Top on the list of food items banned from entering Europe till June 2016 are: beans, sesame seeds, melon seeds, fried fish, meat, peanut chips and palm oil. Cocoa and cashew nuts were also rejected in many other countries, not only in Europe. The reasons for their rejection, according to him, include inability of exporters to adhere to global standards, poor packaging and high level of chemicals, poor labeling, insufficient information on nutritional content, presence of high level of pesticide residue and presence of mycotoxins.
He said the suspension measure adopted by the body in June this year was the only action it could take because notices on the matter to the Nigeria government were ignored. He said the ban would remain until there is substantial guarantee that adequate official control systems had been put in place to ensure compliance with food law requirements. He said inspectors must monitor all the consignments at all entry points to make sure quality is maintained. Exporters, Madu, said must brace up for new measures to address the EU ban on some the nation’s exports.
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