The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Monday, insisted it would not reverse the ban on the importation, manufacture, distribution, sale, and use of alcoholic beverages in sachets, PET, and glass bottles of 200ml and below, saying the ban was for the good of Nigerians and to save lives.
NAFDAC had on January 31 announced that it would begin the enforcement of the ban on alcoholic beverages in sachets bottles of 200ml and less.
The announcement had led to protests by distillers and labour unions, who said the move would cost about 500,000 jobs.
The Head of Public Relations Office, NAFDAC, Christiana Obiazikwor, on Monday said the ban will protect children and save lives.
“The alcoholic content in sachet or PET bottles less than 200ml is 30 per cent. Beer has four to eight per cent alcohol,” she said.
“The Association of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employers, and Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria signed an agreement with the Ministry of Health and NAFDAC in December 2018 that they will phase out production of alcohol in sachet and PET bottles less than 200 ml by January 31, 2024. The agreement document is available. A five-year phase-out notice should be sufficient.
“They say it’s going to lead to loss of jobs, but it can lead to loss of lives as well. So, which is more important? We are not going back (on the ban). We are doing this to save the lives of Nigerians, and commuters.
“The schoolchildren buy it and put it in their bags, so we are doing it to protect the children because they can’t take responsibility for themselves; so the leaders and adults need to take responsibility for them. Are we going to kill our children because the economy is bad?” she said.
In his reaction, the Executive Secretary of the Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria, John Ichue, insisted that the MoU signed with NAFDAC in 2018 could not be taken as a policy document.
Ichue said, “The MOU that we signed in 2018 was not really a policy and it was signed under duress because the then Minister of Health attempted to ban the manufacturing of pet alcoholic drinks but he later allowed us to engage in sensitisation effort to encourage responsible drinking and discourage underage access to these drinks, which we have been doing since 2019.
“The MOU is not a policy; the government is currently working on a national alcohol policy which we all agree is the proper way to go. In most countries where a ban on sachet alcohol was implemented, it was not successful. It led to illicit alcohol in circulation.”
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in January 2022 stopped the registration of alcoholic beverages in sachet and small volume PET and Glass bottles below 200ml.
It said the decision was based on the recommendation of a high powered committee of the Federal Ministry of Health and NAFDAC on one hand, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), and the Industry represented by the Association of Food, Beverages and Tobacco Employers (AFBTE), Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria (DIBAN), in December 2018.
In another development, Meanwhile, angry drug hawkers, and touts attacked members of NAFDAC’s Investigation and Enforcement Directorate and mobile policemen attached to them in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja on Monday while on a raid of fake, unregistered, and counterfeit drugs at the Area One Motor Park of the FCT when they were attacked.
Two vehicles belonging to NAFDAC were vandalised in the attack.
The enforcement team and the journalists monitoring the event escaped upon the intervention of the mobile police who threw tear gas and shot sporadically into the air to disperse the attackers.
Commenting on the raid, the Assistant Chief Regulatory Officer, Investigation and Enforcement Directorate, Federal Task Force, NAFDAC, Umar Suleiman, said, “This exercise that we just conducted at the Area 1 motor park is a result of intelligence we received from the DSS since last year. A lot of hawkers were there selling their products and many people patronising them and that was why we raided the park.
“The attack is a normal thing for us in the investigation and enforcement department. That is the reason we always go with armed Mopol and Investigating Police Officers in case of any arrest.
“But to my surprise, we had not done half of the work when the drug hawkers absconded but mobilised in full force against us, throwing stones at us and destroying the windscreens of the vehicles.”
NAFDAC officials seized controlled drugs worth about N5m. This is according to Suleiman who identified the seized drugs as Rohypnol, Dizapam, Tramadol (500mg and 225mg), Cocodamol, and aphrodisiac, among others.
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
