This might come as a shocker to many but the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has banned the importation of beans into the country.
Women selling beans in market
At a sensitisation workshop on "Safe and Responsible Use of Regulated Agricultural Inputs" for stakeholders in the North Central Zone on Thursday in Minna, Niger State, NAFDAC acting Director-General, Mrs. Yetunde Oni, said that the agency has banned the importation of beans into the country.
She however said that the action by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), does not affect locally produced beans, adding that only beans screened and tested by NAFDAC would be allowed into the country.
Mrs. Oni said: "We must recall that these banned beans produce that have been banned in the European Union (EU) never passed through NAFDAC. All the beans that passed through NAFDAC and issued EU certification do not get rejected. The ones that have been banned are those ones that never passed through NAFDAC."
Beans
According to her, "It is not entirely the function of NAFDAC, but the primary assignment of the quarantine which is under the Ministry of Agriculture to look into beans because it is an agricultural produce.
"Beans is an agricultural produce, as opposed to a semi or fully processed regulated product under the purview of NAFDAC and such products are food, drugs, medical devices, chemicals, packaged water and detergents. These are the ones that are under our purview.
"But because we have seen that the beans is a raw material into a final product that is regulated by NAFDAC, we are now talking of collaboration with one another so that all relevant stakeholders will join hands to ensure that only good quality regulated products are available for consumption, for sale, distribution, advertisement, information and importation into the country."
Against this background, she explained that NAFDAC is carrying out a study to analyse the nature of beans that enter into the country and the kinds of pesticides to be used for them.