Agricultural Quarantine Intercepts N3m Agric Produce rejected by UK

ABIOLA Seun |

The Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) on Saturday confiscated perishable exported foods rejected by UK worth over N3 million due to failure to obtain phytosanitary certification.

The Head of Inspection, NAQS, South-West Zone, Ikeja, Dr Moses Adewumi, made this known while destroying the food items in Lagos.

According to him, under the international movement of agricultural produce and products, there are some standards to be met as domiciled in the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC).

“We have 41 standards that guide commodities and movement of vegetables and other perishable foods.

“Before any perishable food can be exported, it must be accompanied with phytosanitary certification.

“We want all exporters and those that are trying to come into the business to be aware of phytosanitary certification.

“The phytosanitary certification states all the health issues of the commodities being exported,” Adewumi said.

He, however, called on exporters to always visit any Quarantine office for procedures on exportation of perishable foods.

Dr Dayo Folorunso, a Scientist at the zonal office, Ikeja, said before planning for export, a farm must have good structure such as staff, toilet facility, storage, pack house, before coming to the quarantine office.

Folorunso said that there was need for intending exporters to have cool vans.

He said that because some Nigerians like cutting corners, this was what led to the return of the consignments after getting to UK.

Folorunso urged exporters to desist from cutting corners when exporting goods, adding that such practice tarnished the image of Nigeria and also accumulate loses by the exporters.

He said that the export certificate of the defaulter would be suspended indefinitely to serve as deterrent to others.

Also speaking, Dr Eze Vincent, Head of Station NAQS, NAHCHO Terminal, advised exporters to follow due process of exportation and ensure they do it right.

Vincent said that after the exporters put in much effort to export perishable foods, it was not good when the export produce were sent back to the country.

She said that the Federal Government was encouraging agricultural produce for export and urged exporters to follow due process to enable them flourish.

The head, media and publicity oaf NAQS, Dr Gozie Nwodo, who represented the Coordinating Director, Mr Vincent Isegbe, said the core mandate of the service was to facilitate trade and help farmers to excel in the international market.

He said that it could be recalled that NAQS facilitated the exportation of Zobo to Mexico, America and a lot of countries in Europe.

Nwodo said that NAQS facilitated the Zobo business for the trading partner which enabled them to place more orders.

According to him, Nigeria made over N23 million from exportation of produce to Mexico in seven months in 2017.

He urged exporters to visit NAQS office to get more education on exportation of produce to meet international standard.

He said that Nigerian agricultural produce were being exported every day without complaint and rejections.

Nwodo told exporters to always visit their website for information and guidelines on exportation of perishable items.

Another official of NAQS South-West zone, Head of Animal Quarantine, Dr Ubiogoro Oniovosa, stressed the procedures of exportation and advised exporters to cooperate with the service to sustain their business.

She said that if the products were not certified by the service, such products would be rejected and sent back to the country.

Oniovosa urged exporters to collaborate with NAQS to make their job much easier and encourage more people into the business.

However, nigeriamarime360.com gathered that it seems the Quarantine should not absolve itself from the blame.

According to some of the affected exporters who lost produce of about five million Naira but did not want their names mentioned for fear of being victimised, exporters of agricultural produce were not given necessary field support.

According to them, quarantine officials responsible for the issuance of certificates were not conducting proper and necessary examinations of the farm produce like vegetables and edibles especially at NAHCO desk. According to them, exporters were ready to abide by all necessary guidelines and key in to the rules and regulations of the service as no exporter would like to lose his or her investments.

They called on the Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) to assist them by deploring modern day equipment to screen the items of bug tobacco water flies and others which made the UK immigration to return the consignments.

They however appealed to the Service that rather than suspending them, they should be educated as they are trying to do a legitimate business of promoting export of Nigerian produce in their little way.