FG STEPS UP QUALITY OF EXPORT-BOUND AGRIC PRODUCTS

The Federal Government yesterday declared that issues of all-encompassing food
safety and public health can no longer be treated with levity in the country as part of
strategies to boost Nigeria’s export of food and agricultural produce to the international markets without rejection on safety grounds. The government also
expressed its readiness to take issues of food safety seriously in order to safe guard the
economic and public health of Nigerians. Minister of Agric and Rural Development,
Chief Audi Ogbeh, who spoke yesterday at the first Nigeria Food Safety and
Investment Forum, organised by the UN Industrial Development Organisation,
UNIDO, in Lagos said the forum was designed to enhance food safety and foster
international business cooperation. The theme of the Forum is: “Examining the
Interconnection of Food, Safety, Public Health, Investment and Food Trade.” Also
speaking, Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, disclosed that with support from UNIDO and the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Federal Government,
with stakeholders that constitute the National Food Safety Management Committee
(NFSMC), has commenced the implementation of the Food Safety Policy to the point
of production of the Draft National Food Safety & Quality Bill. Also speaking, the
Acting Director General of NAFDAC, Mrs. Yetunde Oni said as part of efforts to
achieve food safety, the agency has instituted a directorate on Food regulation and
safety to take charge of foods right from the start which is the farm to the finished
products. On his part, the Director Trade and Investment, UNIDO, Mr Bernado
Calzadilla- Sarmiento, has said that trade investment and promotion were key drivers
for economic and inclusive growth.