FG Moves To Tackle Food Export Challenges

The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment to address anomalies in the food export system.

The collaboration is also expected to encourage efforts to unlock the healthcare value chain for effective transformation.

The Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, made this known on Wednesday in Abuja.

Oduwole spoke while receiving the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Muhammad Pate, who was on a courtesy visit to her office.

Also on the courtesy visit was the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the two ministries, with their management, met to address some issues on irregularities in the exportation of food, areas on unlocking healthcare, and other important issues.

Pate said that the issues have been lingering between the ministries and needed to be tackled effectively.

He said that the issues were important to the two ministries, adding that the effort was to support President Bola Tinubu in his agenda towards transforming the country.

“This meeting is bringing two sectors that are ordinarily not closely connected. But there are specific things that have prompted me to reach out, which has to do with the exportation of food and its regulation. The second element is the role of the regulatory body, NAFDAC, in constraining or enabling the trade that we have across various borders.

“The third issue is the regulatory function links to our efforts to unlock the healthcare value chain. These are issues that have been lingering, and I thought we should use this opportunity to come together since we are all on the same team,” he said.

The minister said that the determination was to ensure that Nigeria achieved greatly in those areas in the long run.

Oduwole, while responding, said that both ministries would start working on areas of unlocking the healthcare value chain.

She said that the issues were very vital and required effective measures to be tackled.

“I was briefed about the draft policy and medical devices of syringe and needles manufacturing in Nigeria.

“We have to identify the areas and resolutions, and to identify areas of the ministry’s concern on the draft policy document and were we supposed to emit in further meeting with my ministry.

“The meeting is to discuss how to deliberate on the merit and demerit of the policy, as well as the issues of manufacturing. They are indeed under the eight-point agenda of Mr. President,” she said.

The NAFDAC D G said that Nigerians needed to change their mindsets in the area of the exportation of goods, adding that those regulatory agencies should regulate effectively.

According to her, the effort will help to avoid the embarrassment of rejection of our goods.

Earlier, the Technical Aide to the Industry, trade, and investment ministry, Mr. Temiloluwa Oluokun, mentioned some of the issues lingering in the ministry.

According to him, one of the issues from the regulatory reform programme was the denomination of permit fees in Naira.

“Some elements of those fees are not denominated in local currency.

“It is good to progressively shift all the fees to the local currency to protect our exporters from exchange rate altogether,” he said.

Oluokun said that another recurring issue that required urgent attention was the timeline for processing certificates and private sector participation.

“The recommendations are clear to revisit the export regulation 2024 with very wide industry consultation to balance oversight with efficiency altogether,” he said.

The Director, of the Federal Produce Inspectorate Service, Mr. Dafang Sule, appealed to the health ministry to assist in training some officers on the use of equipment to address the persistent pesticide residues in sesame seeds.

NAN reports that after long deliberation, the two ministries agreed that a team would be set up to address the issues discussed.

They said the team would schedule a meeting soon to check and revisit the issues for final resolution.