The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) seized alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets and PET bottles below 200 ml, worth millions of naira, in Imo State on Friday.
The raid targeted several popular brands, including Action Bitters, Ballamour Bitters, Chelsea London Dry Gin, Squad 5 Dark Rum, Yagor Milk Cream Liquor, Captain Jack, Banjinotu Alcoholic Bitters, Tombo Bitters, Big Ben, Rocket Ginger, Yaahu Blended Gin, and Eagle Aromatic Schnapps.
Led by NAFDAC’s state coordinator, Mrs. Mercy Ndukwe, the enforcement team conducted the operation at the bustling Rotobi Market in Owerri, the state capital. Ndukwe informed the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the Federal Government had previously issued a directive banning the production of alcoholic beverages in sachets and PET bottles below 200 ml.
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“In 2018, the agency, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health, met with the National Union of Food, Beverage, and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE), Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria (DIBAN), and Consumer Protection Council (CPC), among other stakeholders.
During the meeting, an agreement was reached that companies should start packaging above 200 ml,” Ndukwe stated. She further explained that a five-year moratorium was agreed upon to phase out such products by January 31, 2024, with a 50 percent reduction in production by 2022.
Despite the moratorium, NAFDAC had ceased issuing market authorization for alcoholic beverages below 200 mL, initiating enforcement on February 1, 2024. However, many producers continued to manufacture and sell these products illegally or with expired licenses.
“Here in Imo, we gave time to see if they would reduce supply and sale of the particular sized products, but instead of reducing, it is increasing, which means the distillers and blenders are still producing and selling. We cannot watch things go wrong, especially when the deadline has elapsed. This is a policy of the Federal Government, and it must be enforced,” Ndukwe emphasized.
Upon examination, the confiscated beverages showed some with NAFDAC registration numbers but failed date markings, such as production and expiry dates. “This is an indication that the producers are conscious of what they are doing; it is even a violation on its own,” Ndukwe noted.
She highlighted NAFDAC’s ongoing efforts to educate traders on the ban and the dangers of alcoholic beverages below 200ml, emphasizing regular sensitization and planned enforcement. The agency also targeted water producers who sell sachet and bottled water in open spaces without adhering to stipulated guidelines at the Spibat roundabout in Owerri.
“We gave conditions before we register them, that water must be stored in cool, dry, and wooden platforms and not on bare floor, exposed to sunlight from morning till night. You don’t store water anyhow because the packaging materials are prone to certain reactions from sunlight. You may produce clean water, but in the process of storage and distribution, it becomes contaminated,” Ndukwe explained.
Ndukwe advised vendors to erect makeshift shades and use wooden platforms if they must sell outside their factories, stressing that improper storage could lead to health risks such as cholera. “The enforcement is not to witch-hunt any individual or company, but to safeguard the health of the nation,” she maintained.
The proactive steps taken by NAFDAC underline the agency’s commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of the public by enforcing regulatory compliance and eliminating substandard products from the market.
