Food Export Rejection: Nigeria Seeks Reversal Of N539bn Losses, Sets Up Quality Centre

The federal government is set to reverse about N539billion ($700million) that the country was losing annually to rejection of its agro-produce in Europe and America, LEADERSHIP has  learnt.

The chairman, African Export–Import Bank (Afrixembank), Prof. Benedict Oramah, had, in December 2022, disclosed that Nigeria suffered a loss estimated at $700 million annually over rejected agro-produce.

According to him, “due to poor quality, over $700 million worth of agro-produce are rejected from Europe alone. Similarly, about 76 per cent of exports from Africa are rejected annually.”

To address this and recoup N539billion loss to constant rejection of Nigeria’s export products in the international market, which has become an emergency  the federal government has established an agency known as the National Quality Council (NQC).

The new agency is set) to ensure that agricultural produce, among others, exported into the international market meet standard and will not suffer rejection. 

Using the valuation of N770 to a dollar traded at the I&E window on Monday as a benchmark, $700million annual loss, meant to be recoup back into the economy, translates to N539billion. 

The agency is also to promote enhanced development, harmonisation and rationalisation of Nigeria’s Quality Infrastructure. 

Reacting on this development in Abuja, the chairman and chief executive of NQC, Osita Aboloma, posited that, the various legs of the quality infrastructure, namely; standards development, metrology, conformity assessment and accreditation require urgent harmonisation and rationalisation.

These, he said, would ensure cost effectiveness and efficiency in support of the acceptance of Nigeria’s export products around the world.

Responding to questions on the recent assertion by the director general, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Professor Mojisola Adeyeye that 70 per cent of Nigeria’s food exports are rejected in Europe and America, Aboloma corroborated the statement, adding that, sanitary and phytosanitary requirements are some of the key issues to be surmounted to avoid the constant rejects.

The SPS requirements, according to him, are quarantine and biosecurity measures applied to protect human, animal and plant life or health risks arising from the introduction, establishment and spread of pests, diseases as well as from the use of additives, toxins and contaminants in food and feed.

Aboloma alluded to a recent media report of Nigerians shipping goods to Ghana for certification to enhance export value as being unacceptable, stressing that, the solution lies in accelerated development, rationalisation and harmonisation of the nation’s quality infrastructure for optimum value addition.

He stressed the need for greater synergy amongst organisations and institutions in the public and private sectors, hosting the National Quality Infrastructure as well as greater awareness creation for operators along the export value chain.

According to him, NQC was created to implement the letters and spirit of the approved Nigerian National Quality Policy (NNQP) document which provides for efficient and effective management of regulatory responsibilities to achieve protection of society and the environment as well as transparent and reliable state-regulatory systems, devoid of bureaucratic vagaries.

Others he said, include; the provision of a supportive National Quality Infrastructure (NQI), which consists of Standards, Metrology, Accreditation and Conformity Assessment Services that must be acceptable globally to enhance the competitiveness of products and services made in Nigeria.

Aboloma explained that, Standards serve as benchmark for products and service quality; metrology ensures accuracy of measurements in industry for both equipment and products; accreditation assures mutual recognition of competencies in Nigeria across borders while conformity assessment entails inspection and testing of products to meet destination requirements.

The NQC, according to him, is domiciled in the presidency under the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to reduce bureaucratic bottlenecks in the discharge of its mandate like similar bodies in other parts of the world.

He stated that countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa that have promoted harmonised quality infrastructure are reaping the benefits in huge inflow of foreign exchange from unhindered exports, listing America, India, United Kingdom, Morocco, Ghana and Kenya as good examples.

Aboloma stated that the NQC would promote industry access to conformity assessment services that are affordable and acceptable globally so that Nigerian made products can be marketed under the motto: ‘Tested once, certified once, and accepted everywhere.’

The NQC chairman admonished Nigerian Exporters to take optimum advantage of the existing quality infrastructure in the country, to save the nation scarce foreign exchange, increase the efficiency of the export value chain and mitigate the rejection of Nigerian made products across regional, continental and international borders.

This, he said, will promote efficient and effective service delivery as well as overall economic emancipation, in order to benefit immensely from the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.