NAFDAC seals rice company in Niger for flouting production regulations

Mr Shaba Mohammed, Director, North Central Zone of NAFDAC, ordered the sealing off of the facility during the agency’s routine inspection visits of facilities in Niger.

Shaba explained that although the facility was registered with the agency, the production environment was unhygienic and without good production manufacturing practices.

“The rice processing facility has been sealed off and given directives for not complying with the instant regulations, for which they were given certification to produce.

“The place is unhygienic and they are not producing according to good manufacturing practice,” he said.

The director said that the agency also discovered that some key personnel of the company were not knowledgeable in areas of rice production.

Similarly, the agency ordered the suspension of the dispenser water of Golden Age Water, Minna, for not having batch coding and date markings, and also confiscated some unregistered herbal tea at Jonapal Supermarket, Minna.

In another development, the agency on Wednesday held a one-day workshop for Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to sensitise their clients and stakeholders on Automated Product Administration and Monitoring System (NAPAMS).

Shaba while speaking at the event, explained that NAPAMS is an e-registration and data capture system that provides an online electronic medium for the application for product registration with NAFDAC.

He advised MSMEs to take advantage of NAPAMS to ease their interface with the agency and called on the general public to report anything that would endanger the lives of the people to the agency.

In his remarks, Mr James Kigbu, NAFDAC Coordinator in Niger, said that the workshop was to sensitise entrepreneurs on the NAPAMS portal introduced by the agency for ease of doing business.

Also in their separate remarks, Folorunsho Ibrahim, Manager of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDEN) and Okwy Effiong, President, Export of Unique Nigerian Products, called for continuous mutual understanding between NAFDAC and msmes.

They urged Small and Medium Enterprises to take advantage of NAPAMS to interface with NAFDAC from the comfort of their homes.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mrs Lilian Igwe from NAFDAC made a presentation on the Requirements for Registration and Renewal of Licences for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME’s).