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China-Africa Trade Information Service
info.afrindex.com
China-Africa Trade Information Service
Photo by nafdac.gov.ng
By Musa Abdullahi Krishi
The Nigeria Federal Government will soon ban importation of foreign tomato pastes into the country, the minister of agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh has said.
Ogbeh said based on a report by the National Agency for Food and Administration and Control (NAFDAC), foreign tomato pastes imported into Nigeria are not good.
AFDAC was established by Decree 15 of 1993 as amended by Decree 19 of 1999 and now the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control Act Cap N1 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.This Act mandates NAFDAC to regulate and control the manufacture, importation, exportation, distribution, advertisement, sale and use of food, drugs, cosmetics, chemicals, detergents, medical devices and packaged water (Known as regulated products).
He spoke during the oversight visit of the House of Representatives Committee on Agricultural Production and Services, chaired by Rep Mohammed Tahir Monguno (APC, Borno) to the ministry yesterday in Abuja.
"The Chinese are the ones messing us up on tomato paste. Each time Dangote tries to produce, they lower their prices. There's a report by NAFDAC on the quality of foreign tomato pastes. The report is very bad.
"We think we have every reason in that report to ban foreign tomato pastes into the country. If you don't ban it on health ground, you have to ban it on any other ground," he said.
When members of the committee demanded to know the measures government was taking to avert food crisis next year in view of the influx of foreigners buying Nigerian grains, the minister said "It's time to fill our silos.
