ABUJA: The European Union has banned some food exports from Nigeria, The Punch reports.
The food items banned till 2016 include: beans, sesame seeds, melon seeds, dried fish and meat, peanut chips and palm oil.
This is a setback for Nigeria as the country needs to expand its export basket to boost domestic agricultural activities and create jobs.
In a statement from the European Food Safety Authority, the food substances were banned because they contained ‘a high level of unauthorized pesticide.’
Nigerian beans was banned because it contained between 0.03mg per kg to 4.6mg/kg of dichlorvos pesticide when the acceptable maximum residue limit is 0.01mg/kg.
The Director-General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Paul Orhii, said that exporters caused the problem by not complying with regulatory requirements for semi-processed and processed commodities.
The ban is a reflection of the country’s inability to adhere to global standards. Overturning the ban requires a firm approach to enforcing standards at all times.
Meanwhile, NAFDAC has warned against the consumption of imported or smuggled frozen poultry frozen meat, as it has been discovered to be a cause of non- communicable diseases (NCDs) and antibiotics resistance.
