- Nigeria’s failure to comply with administrative procedures has placed the country on European Union (EU) restricted list for some products.
- The prodedure stipulates that there should be 50 per cent physical inspection for specific imported food items thereby acting as a barrier to food export trade.
- The Executive Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) Olusegun Awolowo spoke at the inauguration of the Inter-Agency Technical Committee on Non-Oil export in Abuja.
- He stated that non- adherence to food safety measures is another cause for the restrictions by EU.
He said: “The price of crude oil has fallen by 60 per cent. This is bad news for Nigeria. Agricultural products constitute the bulk of Nigeria’s non-oil export.
The total share of this products, processed and unprocessed in value is as high as 70 per cent. The country witnessed a steady growth in non- oil export- $2.970billion in 2013, a 15.9per cent increase over $2.561billion in 2012.
Agriculture dominated our non oil exports in 2014 by contributing $1.465b representing 53.99 per cent of non-oil exports. All these gains are however being threatened by the re-curring issue of rejects of Nigerian exported agricultural commodities and food items.
The immediate and remote causes that result in this strict restriction are non-compliance to administrative procedures, non-compliance to documentation import, export requirements, incorrect filling of information for entry, inadequate information and know how on the entry requirements for food imports to the EU by export.”
- Awolowo said the committee is carefully selected and comprises agencies responsible for inspection, certification and trade facilitation that must ensure that the agricultural and food items exporters conform to stipulated food safety measures and documentation requirements.
