The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has issued a stern warning against importation of syringes from foreign countries.
This is according to a statement signed by NAFDAC Director-General, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, and made available to newsmen in Abuja on Sunday, saying the act may kill local pharmaceutical industries.
She advised members of the new executive of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA, who were on a courtesy visit to her office in Lagos, to think more of the interest of the country above personal interests as a clearing agents in the nation’s ports.
She also enjoined the agents to join forces with NAFDAC to end the rejection of Nigerian food exported to the European Union, United States and other western countries.
The NAFDAC boss also narrated how she marveled at the stupendous investments committed to local production of syringes in Nigeria by a local pharmaceutical company during a recent facility tour.
According to her, the standard of the facilities she met on ground was comparable to those found in the US or any country in Europe.
She said after the facility tour and being led into the warehouse, she was highly disturbed at the sight of huge unsold products.
She noted that over 1.5 billion units of the product were lying untouched in the warehouse due to low sales, exacerbated by the influx of imported syringes into the country, in spite of the high import duty slammed on the product to protect the local market.
