NAFDAC warns Customs against aiding, abetting importation of illegal syringes

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has issued a strong warning against importing syringes from other nations.

This is according to a statement issued by NAFDAC Director-General Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye and made accessible to journalists in Abuja on Sunday, which states that the move may kill local pharmaceutical industries.

She instructed members of the new administration of the Association of Nigerian Licenced Customs Agents, ANLCA, who were paying a courtesy visit to her office in Lagos to prioritise the country’s interests over their own as clearing agents in the country’s ports.

She also urged the agents to work together with NAFDAC to halt the rejection of Nigerian food exported to the European Union, the United States, and other Western countries.

During a recent facility tour, the NAFDAC president also expressed her admiration for a local pharmaceutical company’s massive investments in local syringe production in Nigeria.

According to her, the facilities she encountered on the ground were comparable to those found in the United States or any country in Europe.

The NAFDAC boss stated that after the facilities tour and being escorted inside the warehouse, she was deeply distressed by the sight of massive unsold merchandise.

She stated that over 1.5 billion units of the product remained unopened in the warehouse due to low sales, which were aggravated by the entry of imported syringes into the nation, despite the high import duty imposed on the goods to protect the local market.