THE House of Representatives and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) have jointly agreed to repeal the ban on the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets.
The deputy spokesman for the House of Representatives, Philip Agbese, who made this disclosure yesterday, June 14, said the ban would be reintroduced when the country recovers from its current economic strain.
Agbese stated that the resolution to temporarily lift the ban was arrived at after a meeting between the House Committee and NAFDAC officials.
“We all agreed at the meeting that at a certain stage in history, we must move on with our counterparts across the globe. Nevertheless, at the moment, we agreed with NAFDAC that there would be a temporary lifting of the ban until the economy regains its strength.
“We had engagements with stakeholders, including NAFDAC and the organised private sector involved. Resolutions were reached at that meeting based on the submissions made by the stakeholders, civil society organisations, and other interested parties,” he added.
He disclosed that part of the recommendations before the parliament was the untimeliness of the ban given the current economic realities.
He further stressed that the five-year moratorium granted by NAFDAC to the private sector was hindered by the advent of COVID-19 and other economic realities which did not permit the operators in the industry to comply with agreed terms.
In February, The ICIR reported that NAFDAC had begun the implementation of its 2022 restrictions on manufacturing, distributing, and selling alcoholic beverages in sachets, PET, and glass bottles of 200ml and below.
The Director-General of NAFDAC, Mojisola Adeyeye, also stated that the agency stopped the registration of alcoholic beverages in sachets and small-volume PET and glass bottles below 200ml in 2022.
Kehinde Ogunyale tells stories by using data to hold power into account. You can send him a mail at jameskennyogunyale@gmail or Twitter: Prof_KennyJames | LinkedIn: Kehinde Ogunyale