The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control's Lagos office is being stormed, according to members of the Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria, in protest of the law that forbids the production and distribution of alcoholic beverages in sachets.
The association announced that the demonstration would take place today, Tuesday, at the NAFDAC Office on the Lagos-Oshodi Apapa Expressway, Isolo, Lagos, in an invitation issued to The PUNCH on Monday.
The notice said, "We are inviting you to join us for a peaceful demonstration against NAFDAC's prohibition on alcoholic beverages in sachets and pet bottles."
The NAFDAC Director General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, made the announcement on Monday that the organization would start enforcing the prohibition on the importation, production, distribution, sale, and use of alcoholic beverages in sachets, PET, and glass bottles with a capacity of less than 200 milliliters. This announcement prompted the association to respond.
Adeyeye further stated to The PUNCH that NAFDAC and the National Union of Road Transport Workers would work together to implement the prohibition.
"We aim to work with the NURTW to ensure the enforcement of the banned products," the speaker declared. We will undoubtedly address that and make sure they are discontinued and phased out.
During a news conference in Abuja on Monday, the Director General of NAFDAC announced that the agency has started enforcing the prohibition on the importation, production, distribution, sale, and consumption of alcoholic drinks in sachets, PET, and glass bottles with a capacity of less than 200 milliliters.
"As of January 31st, 2024, NAFDAC has not registered any alcoholic beverage under these categories." Additionally, I would want to let you know that the agency has begun taking enforcement action in an effort to make sure this policy is followed. January 31, 2024, was the last day of the NAFDAC-granted window for makers to sell off all alcoholic beverages in this category.
"To this end, on February 1st, 2024, the agency commenced nationwide enforcement actions to enforce the implementation of the new policy," the spokesperson stated. The window time had ended.
She said that during enforcement efforts, it was found that some of the manufacturers of these prohibited products were still producing the goods and that they still possessed stacks of the products' final goods as well as their packing materials.
Naturally, this is unacceptable, and the agency sees this as blatant disregard for Nigerian law. NAFDAC takes this issue seriously and will use all available legal tools, including possible legal action, to address it.
In order to avoid harsher measures, such as prosecution, she said, "I want to use this medium to ask all holders of alcohol in sachets, PET and glass bottles, empty sachets, PET bottles, empty glass bottles, and other packaging materials of these banned products to report to the Investigation and Enforcement Directorate of NAFDAC immediately for hand-over of same to NAFDAC for destruction."
NAFDAC discontinued registering alcoholic beverages in small-volume PET and glass bottles with capacities less than 200 milliliters in January 2022.
A high-level committee of the Federal Ministry of Health and NAFDAC, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, and the industry, represented by the Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria and the Association of Food, Beverages, and Tobacco Employers, made this recommendation in December 2018, which served as the basis for this decision.
The resolution made at the conclusion of the committee meeting led to makers of small-volume and sachet alcohol agreeing to cut output by 5% starting on January 31, 2022, and guaranteeing that the product is phased out nationwide by the same date in 2024.
"NAFDAC pledged to make sure that the impacted category's alcoholic product registrations' validity does not extend into 2024.
"NAFDAC is unwaveringly dedicated to the stringent enforcement of laws and policies aimed at protecting the well-being of Nigerians, especially the most susceptible youth, from the perils of careless alcohol consumption," Adeyeye pledged.
The don issued a warning, saying that young people, commercial vehicle drivers, and riders are the groups most at danger from the harmful effects of consuming the prohibited pack sizes of alcoholic beverages.
According to data from the World Health Organization, children who consume alcohol have a higher likelihood of using drugs, receiving poor grades, getting hurt or killed, participating in risky sexual behavior, making poor judgments, and experiencing health issues. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported a connection between alcohol intake and over 200 health disorders, including non-communicable diseases like liver cirrhosis and various forms of cancer, and infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.
It is also linked to societal issues like violence against women and alcoholism.
"The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended certain actions and strategies to policymakers that have demonstrated efficacy and cost-effectiveness in addressing the problem of alcohol abuse. These strategies include regulating the marketing of alcoholic beverages and regulating and restricting the availability of alcohol," the spokesperson stated.
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