The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) sealed off a Chinese supermarket on Monday in Wuse 2, Abuja, for allegedly selling expired products and products labeled in Chinese without English translations, as enshrined in NAFDAC’s regulations.
The supermarket, located at Azba Ma, 2 Durban Street, Wuse 2, Abuja, is owned and managed by Chinese nationals who claimed they are undergoing NAFDAC processes to obtain a NAFDAC license and translate the labeling instructions into English in accordance with the agency’s regulations.
The leader of the enforcement team, Pharm. Shaba Mohammed, who spoke after the exercise, said, “The agency received credible information about the violation of our regulations by the supermarket and immediately swung into action. We carried out due diligence to ascertain the claim.”
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The Director of Investigation and Enforcement, Mr. Shaba Mohammed, stated, “The agency will continue the investigation to unravel how these products entered the country in commercial quantities, blatantly violating our labeling practices without being intercepted at the point of entry.”
He added that NAFDAC would extend its investigation to the warehouse where their goods are stored because 90 percent of the items found on their shelves were labeled in Chinese. This action aims to prevent the sale of such items to the public to guarantee public safety.
“Selling items labeled in foreign languages in Nigeria is a violation of our law. If you must sell anything labeled in Arabic, Chinese, or any other foreign language, you must provide the English translation.
“What we found there—more than 90 percent of the items—are labeled in Chinese,” he said.
“And you also see some Nigerians patronizing the supermarket. So, how are they able to read what they’ve bought? Not only that, when you look at the date markings, some of the items have expired and are still on the shelves.”
The Director further stated, “Even if NAFDAC gave them global listing to import these items, the labeling must be in English.
“They can’t present any document from NAFDAC for items labeled in a foreign language. That is unacceptable, which is why we had to seal off the supermarket.”
He concluded, “We have to invite them and conduct a thorough investigation before concluding the case. You can’t operate here and just bring in anything—it doesn’t work that way. You can’t have a country within a country.”
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