Nigerian Beans to Be Allowed into Europe Again as Ban is Set to Be Lifted

 

In what might be considered a boost to Nigeria’s export trade, there are indications that the European Union may lift its ban on the importation of Nigerian beans, Vanguard reports.

The European Food Safety Authority placed a ban on the importation of beans from Nigeria to European countries in 2015 but there are indications this will be lifted by June.

The European authority banned some agricultural produce which included beans from Nigeria, on the basis that the rejected beans were found to contain between 0.03mg per kilogramme to 4.6mg/kg of dichlorvos pesticide, when the acceptable maximum residue limit is 0.01mg/kg.

The new development came after the visit of an EU team to the central laboratory of the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in Lagos.

The team was reportedly in Nigeria to carry out an inspection on the procedures of NAFDAC to ensure that future exports of beans and other agricultural produce from Nigeria meet the standards of importing countries.

Mrs. Yetunde Oni, who is the acting director general of NFDAC, said during the inspection that the beans that resulted in the ban were smuggled out of Nigeria and did not pass through the agency. She said the ban had had a negative effect on Nigeria’s economy.

 

“The ban was placed about a year ago due to high insecticide residue in beans but let me sound a note of caution here that the beans that were rejected never passed through NAFDAC, they were beans produce smuggled out of the country.

"The ban has brought about a huge economic loss in the sense that Nigeria has large expanse of land, we have a lot of farmers that produce beans and the beans are not able to go out,” she said.

 

She gave her assurance that agricultural produce that passes through the agency never gets rejected because of the rigorous process it goes through before certification.