EU plans to lift ban on Nigerian agricultural produce.

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·      NAQS expresses gladness

The European Union (EU) may have concluded plan to lift the ban placed on Nigerian agricultural produce as the country according to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh will make all effort to ensuring standard produce being sent abroad. Meanwhile the Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service (NQAS) through its Coordinating Director, Dr. Vincent Isegbe has expressed happiness of the new development for its economic impacts.

This development was revealed during the Interactive Ministerial Committee of Zero reject organized by Federal Ministry of Agriculture and European Union.  

Chief Audu Ogbeh reacting to ban on the nation’s beans by EU said that relevant measures are being put in place to ensure the lift and also to stop the export of low quality produce abroad, adding that Nigeria would never export sub-standard agricultural produce again, while he advised that farmers must be educated to ensure quality produce not only for export but for local consumption too.

 He noted that “the world is in competition, driven by trade, buying and selling” stressed that if we don’t sell the right kind of beans, we run the danger of hurting everybody, particularly our own people. “The quality of our produce must be right”

 “By the time we do the first test export and everything goes well, we must stand by the oath we have taken and never again ship sub-standard produce to world market” said the minister.

The Head of Trade and Economics Section of European Union Delegation, Mr. Filippo Amato on the ocasion commended Federal Government for addressing the issue of quality and safety of agriculture commodities adding that the EU, through the National Quality Infrastructure Program (NQIP) implemented by UNIDO has supported Nigerian quality control plan so as to enable the country to meet global standard.

Mr. Amato added that the EU delegation was already consulting with Nigerian stakeholders on new competitive support programme that would focus on tomato, pepper and ginger value chains saying it would be launched anytime this year.

 The Chief Technical Adviser of UNIDO, Dr. Shaukat Malik also added that the Nigerian authorities were expected to submit detailed action plan that would ensure non rejections to the EU saying that the inter-ministerial committee was inaugurated in 2016 as part of requirements to lift the ban on exportation of Nigeria’s dried beans. 

The committee was also to facilitate the consumption of local produce and stop rejection of agricultural produce at the international market.

Also speaking,  the Coordinating Director, Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service (NQAS) Dr. Vincent Isegbe said that he is glad with the current development of the European Union considering lifting the ban on the nation’s agricultural produce as necessary measures were to be put in place before 2019.

Dr. Isegbe noted that the EU ban on beans had got a negative impact on the nation’s economy, adding that there was need to avoid future rejection of Nigeria’s agricultural commodities through a due process of proper certification by NAQS.

According to Isegbe, the agency is doing its best to revert the situation, adding that “We have had issues in the past concerning beans where the European Union suspended Nigeria for three years for beans export. That is not good for us because it means that all the farmers who are producing beans can no more export the quantity that they are used to export’’.