Breaking News
Pharmacists Kick against ‘Illegal Taxation’ by NAFDAC
Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) Lagos Branch has decried the imposing of multiple taxes and tariffs on players in the value chain of the Pharmaceutical industry by the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and demand that the federal government stop the obnoxious act.
It accused NAFDAC of turning the Pharmacy practice to a major Internally Generated Revenue source through illegal taxes and tariffs on the pharmaceutical sector.
In a statement, Mr. Gbolagade Iyiola, Chairman, Lagos State chapter of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), alleged that ‘’NAFDAC inspectors have been invading retail Pharmacy outlets under various guises of regulatory violations, imposing fines on perceived offences. Some of the arbitrarily imposed fines are as heavy as N500, 000 in some instances.
‘’NAFDAC has also insisted on continuing its agenda of forcing importers of drug to pay as high as N4.2 million per foreign manufacturer facility for GMP clearance when the reality is that India which is the biggest exporter of drugs to Nigeria has banned exports of Pharmaceuticals to Nigeria because of the peculiar challenge of Covid-19 which continues to ravage its local population.
According to Mr. Iyiola, “The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria Lagos State Branch finds it imperative to sensitise appropriate government quarters and other stakeholders after all entreaties to get National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and its management to have a rethink about its propensities to turn pharmacy practice to a major template of Internally Generated Revenue through its imposition of unending taxes and tariffs on players in the value chain of the Pharmaceutical sector.
“NAFDAC recently took up the challenge of continuing the unholy attempt made between 2001 and 2005 to take over the certification of pharmaceutical premises engaged in the wholesaling and distribution of drugs in Nigeria.”
Mr. Iyiola also said NAFDAC had also taken over the certification of pharmaceutical premises engaged in wholesale and distribution of drugs in Nigeria and called the government to ‘’checkmate the unending excesses of NAFDAC management,”.
The statement titled, ‘NAFDAC, Pharmacy Is Not For Sale,’ further stated that NAFDAC’s action has elicited similar moves from other sector players who believe that the sector is a gold mine.
“It is this grab all attitude by NAFDAC that has encouraged some other regulators in the Nigerian space to imagine there is more money than common sense in the Pharmaceutical Sector which was why they wanted a share of the booty in the Pharmaceutical world in the recent past.”
Mr. Iyiola also slammed NAFDAC for attempting to embark on monitoring wholesalers and distributors of drugs in the country, which it tried in the past, but failed.
“It is apparent that the remnants of the forces at NAFDAC that advanced the dangerous school of thought that NAFDAC has a statutory mandate to register and inspect pharmaceutical premises in Nigeria on the strength of Section 5 of the NAFDAC Act is still alive.
“Section 5(a) of the Act states inter-alia ‘”The Agency shall have the following functions, that is to regulate and control the importation, exportation, manufacture, advertisement, distribution, sale and use of food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, bottled water and chemicals.”
“Section 5 has been amended through the creation of a new Section (s) which posits that “The Agency shall determine the suitability or otherwise of medicines, drugs, food products, cosmetics, medical devices or chemicals for human and animal use.”
“Basically, this is where NAFDAC derives its ‘safety mandate’ in the regulation and control of specific products which Section 5 (a) identifies as food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, bottled water and chemicals.”
He further explained that inspecting wholesalers and distributors of drugs and certifying for meeting Good Storage and Distribution Practice (GSDP), and evaluating Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) is the prerogative of Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN).
“The attempts by NAFDAC to inspect wholesalers and distributors of drugs and certify for meeting Good Storage and Distribution Practice (GSDP), evaluate Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for cleaning, environmental monitoring, monitor power and alternative power supply ( example, generators) and determine functionality and suitability of warehouse conditions are matters bordering directly on Pharmacy Practice which remains the exclusive jurisdiction of the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN).
“It is salient to insist and put on record that the PCN by virtue of Section 1(1) (d) of Act 91 of 1992 (Now Cap P. 17 LFN 2004) which declares inter-alia, “There is hereby established a body to be known as the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria which shall be a body corporate under that name and be charged with the general duty of regulating and controlling the practice of the profession in all its aspects and ramifications.”
Iyiola said, “Several court judgments have affirmed with unambiguous conviction that the PCN has a specific approbation in law to regulate and control Pharmacy Practice in all its aspects and ramifications in both the public and private sectors through some landmark cases which have now been grounded in Pharmacy jurisprudence.
