The enforcement is not to witch-hunt any individual or company, but to safeguard the health of the nation
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, on Friday confiscated alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets and pet bottles below 200ml worth millions of naira in Imo.
Some of the alcoholic beverages confiscated by the agency include: Action bitters, ballamour bitters and Chelsea London dry gin.
Some others are Squad 5 dark rum, Yagor milk cream liquor, Captain Jack, Banjinotu Alcoholic bitters, Tombo bitters, Big Ben, Rocket ginger, Yaahu blended gin and Eagle Aromatic Schnapps.
The agency’s Coordinator in the state, Mrs Mercy Ndukwe, led the enforcement team to the popular Rotobi Market in Owerri, the Imo state capital.
Ndukwe said after the raid that the Federal Government had issued a directive banning the production of alcoholic beverages in sachets and pet bottles below 200ml.
She added that “in 2018, the agency, in collaboration with Federal Ministry of Health met with the National Union of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE), Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria (DIBAN) and Consumer Protection Council (CPC), among other stakeholders.
“During the meeting, an agreement was reached that companies should start packaging above 200ml.
“The committee and the agency agreed to a moratorium of five years to phase out such packaged drinks by Jan. 31, 2024.
“They also agreed to reduce production by 50 per cent by 2022.”
Ndukwe added that NAFDAC had equally stopped the issuance of market authourisation to producers of alcoholic beverages below 200ml, while enforcement commenced on Feb. 1, 2024.
Ndukwe advised them to erect makeshift shades and use wooden platforms, if they must sell outside their factories.
“You hear the story of cholera everywhere, we don’t want residents to fall victims.
“The enforcement is not to witch-hunt any individual or company, but to safeguard the health of the nation,” she maintained. (NAN)