EFFECT OF NATIONAL AGENCY FOR FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION AND CONTROL (NAFDAC) ON FOOD INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE
1.1INTRODUCTION
Concern about the wholesomeness and safety of our foods has grown dramatically, especially in countries where food scarcity is not an issue. Growing consumer and organized consumer group understanding and interest in technological matters, combined with a recognition that neither government nor industry can guarantee food safety, have lent support to this concern. Our current food crisis stems from the fact that technology has opened our eyes to potential dangers that we were previously blissfully unaware of. It has accomplished this on two fronts. First, it has enabled us to measure substances that were previously undetected in trace amounts, and we have begun to recognize that many of these substances form the natural background of our food supply. However, perhaps
More importantly, it has raised our awareness of the universe of possible diseases and their obvious causes. We no longer focus our fear on immediate, lethal consequences. We are now concerned about the insidious chronic effects that wreak havoc on our health and reduce the quality of our lives.
There are various types of adulteration in the food trade. For example, textured vegetable protein can be used in place of meat, and bean flour can be contaminated with cheaper flour. In some cases, more expensive vegetable oils have been diluted with cheaper or non-edible oils, resulting in cases of food poisoning with fatal consequences. Such practices must be discouraged, and any food control measures should prohibit and penalize such behavior. As a result, there is a requirement for
a food regulatory body.
The regulatory aspect of food is primarily an attempt to protect the consumer’s health and pocketbook, as well as to simplify trade at both the domestic and international levels. The food policy is invariably derived from the various quality control measures used in the production, sale, or importation of food. To accomplish this, food laws must be enacted that include provisions for regulating the presence of poisonous materials in food, prohibiting adulteration in any form, and prohibiting the advertisement of misleading claims. It must also allow for the specification of compositional, hygienic, and labeling requirements, as well as the control of the presence and amount of additives. It is also necessary to make provisions for
Check for dumping and make any necessary regulations. The penalties for violations must be specified, and they must be severe enough to serve as a deterrent.
1.2 THE NATIONAL AGENCY FOR FOOD AND DRUGS ADMINISTRATION AND CONTROL’S GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
It is necessary to regulate such products in a country like ours that wants to stop the dumping of counterfeit and substandard products in order to avoid the purchase and consumption of unwholesome regulated products. The NATIONAL AGENCY FOR FOOD AND DRUGS ADMINISTRATION AND CONTROL (NAFDAC) is thus tasked with protecting Nigerians’ health by combating the manufacture, importation, distribution, and sale of substandard drugs and unwholesome food products in Nigeria.
As a result, NAFDAC’s goal is to
the promotion and protection of the health of the Nigerian consumers as well as ensuring rational and fair practices in commerce in the materials covered by the decree through which they are established.
1.3 THE NATIONAL AGENCY FOR FOOD AND DRUGS ADMINISTRATION AND CONTROL’S GENERAL FUNCTIONS
The agency has the following functions, according to (Section 5 of Decree No. 15 of 1993):
a. Regulate and control the importation and exportation of food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, bottled water, and chemicals, as well as their manufacture, advertisement, distribution, sale, and use.
b. Perform appropriate tests and ensure compliance with standard specifications designed and approved by the council for effective quality control of food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, bottled water, and chemicals, as well as their raw materials.
Manufacturing procedures in factories and other establishments.
c. Conduct appropriate investigations into manufacturing facilities and raw materials for food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, bottled water, and chemicals, and establish relevant quality assurance systems, including certification of manufacturing sites and regulated products.
d. Conduct inspections of imported foods, bottled water, and chemicals, as well as establish relevant quality assurance systems, such as certification of production sites and regulated products.
e. Develop standard specifications and guidelines for the manufacture, importation, exportation, sale, and distribution of food, drugs, cosmetics, bottled water, and chemicals.
f. Begin the registration of food, drugs, cosmetics, bottled water, and chemicals.
g. Monitor and certify the quality of food, drugs, cosmetics, bottled water, and chemicals intended for export.
export.
h. Establish and maintain relevant laboratories or other institutions in strategic Nigerian areas as may be required for the performance of its functions.
i. Declare the quality and safety of food, drugs, cosmetics, bottled water, and chemicals after appropriate testing.
j. Implement measures to limit the use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances to medical and scientific purposes.
k. Provide advice to federal, state, and local governments, the private sector, and other interested parties on food, drug, cosmetic, bottled water, and chemical quality, safety, and regulatory provisions.
l. Conduct and coordinate research on the storage, adulteration, distribution, and proper use of food, drugs, cosmetics, bottled water, and chemicals.
m. Establish guidelines for, approve, and monitor food advertising
Drugs, cosmetics, bottled water, and chemicals are all examples.
n. Compile and publish relevant data resulting from the Agency’s performance of its functions under this Decree or from other sources.
o. Sponsor such national and international conferences as it deems appropriate.
p. Liaise with relevant establishments outside Nigeria in support of the agency’s functions, and.
q. Carry out such activities as are necessary or expedient for the performance off its functions under this Decree.