For seamless cargo clearing at the nation’s seaports in the year 2025, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Mickey Excellency Nigeria Limited, Otunba Abdulazeez Babatunde Mukaila has called on the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment to quickly harmonize the core functions of some government agencies under its purview.
This, Mukaila believed, would eliminate multiple inspection of products by multiple agencies of government claiming jurisdiction over one particular product during clearing at the seaports.
Mukaila who made this call in an interview with our correspondent in Lagos recently stated that the rivalry between the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC and the Standards Organization of Nigeria, SON still persist adding that such rivalry was unhealthy and unnecessary as it hampered International trade.
He said, “A whole lot of borderline products that are being over-regulated – the bottle water plastic is regulated by NAFDAC, the wrapper is regulated by SON, same bottle, just the bottle not content. Diapers – SON is regulating, NAFDAC is regulating. The same thing applies to table salt – SON is regulating, NAFDAC is regulating.
“I think it’s high time the government through the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment look into all this because you can’t put ten foot forward and twenty foot backwards. This duplicity of function has to stop this new year if we are really serious about ease of doing business. You can’t over-regulated a simple product. There should be a way of intervention between these two organizations.
“And as if that is not enough, NESREA has joined the fight for mandate. NAFDAC is regulating chemical and NESREA is also regulating chemical. They will tell you it’s because this chemical is going to be used to produce this, so, we are interested. So, NESREA has joined the fight, not to talk about the Office of the National Security Adviser, NSA.
“Although that is understandable but once there’s a product that NSA is interested in, maybe because of its hazardous nature, I think it should be left for the NSA because you now have NAFDAC regulating and NSA now telling you that that product might be used for explosives. So, how many people are going to be regulating a product?
“So, this creates a lot of confusion in the system. This duplicity of function, government needs to really look into it and take a stand. A mandate should be given to a specific agency and when you go with them through and through, you are done. If the agencies get it regulated, they can now make a kind of post clearance representation – this chemical, we have approve it, NAFDAC take note or NSA take note. These are the Importers that brought them in – not that everybody is regulating.”
He lamented the high-handedness of agencies like the SON and NAFDAC saying, “We still have the Standards Organization of Nigeria that will give you SONCAP and still wait for your cargo outside the port to arrest it.”
While recalling that the federal government listed those agencies that needed to operate within the ports some years back, Mukaila who is a former Sole Administrator of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA, observed that those of the agencies who were not listed still go for examination at the port on request.
“But you will agree with me that all of them are still loitering within the port and some, in order not to breach that directive, procured their offices within the port environment”, he lamented.
Photo: Otunba Abdulazeez Babatunde Mukaila, Managing Director/CEO of Mickey Excellency Nigeria Limited.
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