NAFDAC Suspends Implementation of New Tarrif

Martins Ifijeh

In a quick move to douse tension and assuage the yearnings of stakeholders in the pharmaceutical, food and allied industries, the governing council of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has suspended implementation of the new tariffs which came into effect on June 1, 2019.

The Chairman, NAFDAC Governing Council, Hon. Inuwa Abdul-Kadir, who stated this during a press briefing in Lagos recently, said stakeholders affected by the new tariffs will henceforth revert to payment of the old tariffs until further notice.

Abdul-Kadir said the council has considered substantially the inputs of the stakeholders in arriving at a new tariff regime which will soon be released by the agency after doing all the needful including sensitising the public before it becomes effective.

According to him, the suspension of the new tariffs was borne out of NAFDAC’s avowed commitment to the promotion of the growth of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.

He said: “The need to carry along our stakeholders in decision making is in line with global best practices. NAFDAC will continue to promote the manufacture, exportation and importation of good quality products.

“We need to promote local manufacture of regulated products as part of federal government’s concerted efforts to create jobs and increase foreign exchange earnings by our dear nation. Nigeria has the potential of producing pharmaceutical products for the domestic consumption and export to West African countries.”

The chairman stressed the need for NAFDAC to procure new laboratory equipment, operational vehicles and other facilities to enable it render quality and efficient regulatory services, monitor and carry out enforcement activities towards safeguarding the health of the nation.

He said the agency will ultimately evolve separate tariffs for the over 35 million MSME operators dealing on NAFDAC regulated products while also ensuring that they adhere strictly to extant regulations without compromise.