NAQS needs empowerment

The raw and semi raw agricultural produce that are being sanctioned by the European Union especially from Nigeria is as a result of our government not wanting to do things rightly as the bill that supposes to empower the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) is still in the cooler without being signed into an act by the previous past President. The development of Agriculture is a function of many agencies, departments and ministries at all the tiers of government working together in a synchronized ways without default.

Many agencies that suppose to be up and doing in the development of our agricultural system have been relegated by the same government who claims to be doing things rightly when they are actually doing nothing that will protect the acceptability of their expenditures on commercial agricultural production in the international market.

The World Trade Organization demands that all the semi and raw agricultural produce going outside the country’s market frontiers must have a phytosanitary certificate issued by the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) which its present operating act is not potent enough to give a service delivery that can assist the acceptance of export as the agency is not well positioned to carry out its duty. Being compressed under the FMARD will give them limitation based on bureaucratic process.

We are aware that the Oransanye panel has recommended the rationalization of many Federal agencies and ministries as a measure of reducing recurrent cost of government expenditures which may have been part of the reasons why this particular organ of government agency that is strategic to market procedure in the development of agriculture as regards standard certification was not rightly positioned to perform its duties. Being a department at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) is a pointer to our insensitivity to doing things in this country rightly considering the fact of aptness to action as supposedly  enforcement paramilitary agency that suppose to be very feasible at all the ports of entry as an autonomous entity  with an act. All effort to ensure the signing of this Act by the two immediate past Presidents were frustrated even after the endorsement of the bill by the both houses of National Assembly for an enactment into an act to operate effectively.

No doubt, the ineffective performance of NAQS is already causing us billions of dollars as day by day exporters of agricultural produce are being faced with challenges of sub standard due to lack of well guided process by the legitimate authority as there are even allegations of fake certificate being issued by this department that suppose to have potent current act that will enable it perform its mandate to capacity.

The actions of the international market forces may even be a reactions to our faulty system which allows all commerce trade, meaning that government must be ready to do things rightly for our semi and raw produce to stop being faced with rejection and turning back. The role of the all standard monitoring agricultural agencies like NAQS must be well spelled out from Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) and NAFDAC so that exporters especially none processed agricultural produce of animals, crops and livestock must know where their export certificate must be collected.