NEPZA, NAFDAC Tighten Joint Oversight In Free Trade Zones.

The Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) are strengthening joint oversight within Nigeria’s free trade zones.

The collaboration focuses on pharmaceutical and consumable products manufactured by enterprises operating in the zones.

The Director-General of NAFDAC, Mojisola Adeyeye, disclosed this during a visit to the Managing Director of NEPZA, Olufemi Ogunyemi, at the authority’s headquarters in Abuja.

Adeyeye said the visit was aimed at deepening collaboration and partnerships that would enable NAFDAC to effectively discharge its regulatory responsibilities within the free trade zones nationwide.

According to her, the agency remains committed to monitoring the importation, exportation, production, and distribution of pharmaceuticals, food products, cosmetics, and other regulated consumables within the zones.

“We must view this meeting as a responsibility we have to the country to protect citizens from fake drugs and consumables infiltrating our markets from known and unknown destinations,” she said.

The NAFDAC boss said the agency had consistently insisted on strict testing procedures and compliance with approved standards to guarantee quality control across regulated manufacturing and export industries.

She emphasised the strategic importance of the free trade zone scheme to Nigeria’s industrialisation drive and broader economic growth objectives, particularly in manufacturing and export promotion activities.

However, Adeyeye said stronger monitoring mechanisms were necessary to ensure the safety, efficacy, and quality of products entering Nigeria’s customs territory from the free trade zones.

“NEPZA and NAFDAC can fix this misalignment by jointly insisting on compliance.

“We can close this gap through excellent facility management and improved inspection across production lines,” she said.

Responding, Ogunyemi welcomed the collaboration, describing it as critical to addressing alleged irregularities associated with medical supplies and consumable products originating from enterprises operating within the free trade zones.

According to him, the free trade zone scheme, comprising 63 zones and more than 900 enterprises, remains a major gateway for industrial growth, investment attraction, and national economic development.

The NEPZA managing director, however, acknowledged that regulating operations within the zones still presented significant challenges requiring stronger inter-agency collaboration and improved enforcement mechanisms.

“We need a joint effort to address some of the irregularities. We will allow NAFDAC to perform its regulatory functions because the public’s health depends on it,” he said.

Ogunyemi added that NEPZA remained committed to ensuring that free trade zones were not used as safe havens for illicit activities or the circulation of substandard products.

“We fully endorse this partnership and collaboration, which has the potential to enhance the scheme’s global compliance across all production and export activities for the benefit of the country,” he said.

The meeting also featured the confirmation of an eight-member technical committee to examine challenges affecting seamless regulatory operations between both agencies within the nation’s free trade zones.