The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Richard Adebayo, at the weekend, received the report of the Technical Committee on the rejection of Nigerian Agro Export in the international market, particularly the European market.
Speaking while presenting the report to the Minister in Abuja, the Director Commodity and Export in the Trade Ministry and Chairman of the Committee, Suleman Audu, said the “Committee noted major concerns such as food safety, technical barrier, non-adherence to best practices and disregard to basic requirements as largely responsible for the rejection of our agro-exports abroad.
“Accordingly, the Committee came up with appropriate recommendations, which state that; the Federal Ministry of Industry Trade and Investment (FMITI) should embark on a sensitisation and awareness program on the need for farmers and operators in the agricultural value chain, to secure and adopt Global GAP certifications in collaboration with the Private Sector.
“FMITI & FMARD should have a dedicated budget to fund the Global GAP training, traceability and certification of all their farmers, to enable their products to qualify for exports, under the Federal Government initiative.
“The private sector should be enabled by the Federal Government, to develop QR Code Traceability Card for the registration of all the operators and their agricultural commodities, in order to enhance transparency, traceability and engender visibility and acceptability for exportable agro commodities,” he stated.
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Other recommendations urged the “FMITI should collaborate with FMARD and Research Institutes, to scale up Research and Development (R&D) activities for the improvement of produce, products, packaging and labelling requirements.
“That all relevant regulatory authorities in the agro-export value chain, should commence the process of automating their processes and procedures; synchronize them with the APUs, in order to curb infractions and ensure that only quality and certified products are exported.
“That the FMITI and FMARD, should work with the Private Sector and other relevant stakeholders, to carry out quarterly awareness and sensitisation campaigns, on step-by-step procedures to ensure zero agro-export rejects.
“That the FMITI and the private sector, should collaborate with Nigerian Incentive-based Risk Sharing insurance and Agricultural liabilities (NIRSAL) SAT-C program, to support logistics hubs and develop transportation facilities and aggregation facilities, in order to reduce overhead costs and create momentum for trade.”
Furthermore, the Committee recommended that “the Federal Government of Nigeria, through FMITI, should enable the Private Sector, to collaborate with all agencies involved in agro-export activities, to create a one-stop shop through the use of technology (Application Program Interface – API), to enhance ease of export.
“The Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), in collaboration with FMITI’s Commodities and Export Department (CED), should produce documents, jingles and offline promotional campaigns (prints, electronic and billboards) in major Nigerian languages. This is to enlighten stakeholders in the agricultural value chain on the need to be Global GAP certified, in order to produce safe and healthy agro produce and avoid rejections.
“It is our belief that the implementation of these recommendations will no doubt go a long way in resolving the issues bedevilling our agro-exports at the international market” Audu noted.
The Committee apologised for its inability to submit its report within the time frame. “The delay was to ensure that the report addresses all the Terms of Reference of the Committee,” he stated.
The Committee was inaugurated in May 2022 to look at the reasonings for the rejection of Nigerian Agro-Export and proffer solutions.
Food safety, technical barriers, others responsible for rejection of Nigerian agro-export ― Committee
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