NAQS accuses FAAN of impeding efforts to stop rejection of agricultural export

THE Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) has accused the Federal Airport Authority (FAAN) of sabotaging the  government’s effort in stopping  the rejection of Nigerian Agricultural Produce by the European Union.

This accusation was against the backdrop of the move by FAAN to remove quarantine operation from the arrival and departure of the airports to enforce Executive order 001 by the Acting President Yemi Oshibanjo on the promotion of transparency and efficiency in business environment.

The order from FAAN had stipulated that all Non-official staff shall be removed from the secured areas of airport, adding that no official of FAAN, Immigration, security official of Ministry of Foreign Affairs or any other agency was to meet any non-designated dignitary at any secured area of the airport.

The Coordinating Director NAQS Vincent Isegbe during a press conference in Abuja on the Skewed implementation of the executive order: the public notice by FAAN, alledged that the executive order was being mis-interpreted by FAAN as there removal from the secured areas of the airport would allow free flow of agricultural produce without control.

He argued that in the era of increased transboundary disease like armyworm, bird flu, tuta absolute, Ebola, there was need for the agency to maintain their post in the terminal buildings so as to ensure agricultural produce coming in and out of the country are certified free of pest and diseases.

He added that their officials have expertise in certifying agricultural produce fit for export, but the aviation security official may not have the expertise adding that this could creat setback in government effort to stop the rejection of Nigerian Agricultural produce by the European Union.

Isegbe disclosed that the EU had extended the ban on Nigerian beans by three years because 3containers of beans was exported into the EU despite ban adding that if they had being at the airport at the time the beans was taken out of the country they could have stopped it from being  exported and the extension of the ban would have been forestalled

He further disclosed that 12hours after dislodging the agency from sensitive positions at the airport several Saudi Arabia bound luggage’s containing kolanut was intercepted at the Abuja airporr by NAQS officials after it has been cleared by airport officials adding that the banned item from the kingdom of Saudi Arabia could have caused d country a national embarrassment if it eventually get there.

Disclosing that an average 3.14 tons of agricultural product are exported from Lagos airport on a monthly basis, he said certifying exported agricultural goods would save the country millions of naira that could have been spent controlling pest and disease.

He stressed “there is need to be careful in the way agricultural produce are imported into the country, Genetically modified crops can be imported unnoticed, there is need to safeguard the Nigerian economy as the country would not want to erode the gains of increasing food production by having a weak control post.’

The NAQS boss maintained that relegating them to the cargo sessions of the airport would caused the country to have weak export control of agricultural produce which would affect government effort of increasing food export the country.