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Over 70% of Nigerian food exports are rejected by foreign countries, according to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control.

 
At the formal opening of the new NAFDAC Office complex for the Murtala Muhammed International Airport/NAHCO in Lagos, NAFDAC Director-General Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye made this announcement.
 
If cooperation between the agency and other government agencies at the ports is strengthened, Sayo Akintola, the Resident Media Consultant to NAFDAC, Adeyeye, said the incidence of food exports from Nigeria being rejected in some European countries and the United States of America may soon become a thing of the past.
 
Adeyeye stated that the agency's ongoing serious concern is the appalling state of export trade facilitation for regulated goods leaving the country. He added that a visit to the NAFDAC Export warehouses located inside the international airport will clarify the main cause for the ongoing rejection of Nigerian exports abroad.
 
She did, however, point out that the agency is addressing the issue by working with the port agencies to make sure that items adhere to the legal criteria of the importing nations and their final destinations.
 
"Without NAFDAC's effective presence at the ports and land borders, the mandate to protect the public's health through ensuring that food, medicines, cosmetics, medical devices, chemicals, and packaged water are safe, effective, and of the right quality in an economy that is heavily dependent on the importation of the majority of its finished products and raw materials could never have been actualized," she said.
 
She praised the Nigeria Customs Service and added, "Without customs, we would not be able to accomplish as much of what we have. There is significant cooperation between Customs and NAFDAC. A complex organization is NAFDAC. Being scientific, we. We work with the Department of State Services as police. Due to a small number of dishonest stakeholders, we collaborate with Interpol and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
 
"Over 70% of the items that leave our ports are rejected, thus NAFDAC works with Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Services to guarantee that due diligence is performed. It is a double loss for the exporter and the nation given the money used to move such things out of the country.
 
"We are limited in what we can do in terms of enforcement and investigation without the police. Over 80 police officers are with us at NAFDAC. When we conduct raids or investigations, they are a huge help to us.