The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has disclosed its decisions to suspend the implementation of the new tariffs on food and pharmaceutical products.
The tariff implementation, which was expected to have commenced on June 1st, 2019, did not go down well owing to resistance from some stakeholders.
Reason for the suspension: The move by the regulatory agency was taken in order to douse the tension that was elicited among various stakeholders in the pharmaceutical, food, and allied industries.
A statement signed by NAFDAC’s Director of Public Affairs, Dr. Abubakar Jimoh, reads thus:
“In a decisive and quick move to douse tension and assuage the yearnings of stakeholders in the pharmaceutical, Food and Allied Industries, the Governing Council of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has suspended implementation of the new tariffs which came into effect on 1st June, 2019.
“After a marathon Stakeholders Forum and Meeting of the Governing Council, it was resolved that all NAFDAC Stakeholders affected by the new tariffs will henceforth revert to payment of the old tariffs until further notice.”
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Meanwhile, this does not mean that NAFDAC is canceling the tariffs. As the Chairman of the agency’s Governing Council, Hon. Inuwa Abdul-Kadir, explained after a recent stakeholders’ meeting, the status quo will still be maintained after the consultations.
“The Council has considered substantially the inputs of the stakeholders in arriving at a new tariff regime which will soon be released by the Agency after doing all the needful including sensitising the public before it becomes effective.”
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The Governing Council Chairman further disclosed that the suspension of the new tariffs was borne out of NAFDAC’s openly acknowledged commitment to grow the Nigerian MSME space.
The effect of this is to promote the local manufacturing, exportation and importation of good quality products as part of concerted efforts by the government to create jobs and also increase foreign exchange earnings.
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