The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has said that the ban on production of alcoholic beverages in sachets and small volume PET and glass bottles below 200mls was a collective decision.
The Director-General of the agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, made this known in a statement she signed on Thursday in Abuja.
She emphasised that the ban was a collective recommendation of a committee, and listed representatives in the committee as: Federal Ministry of Health, NAFDAC and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).
Other representatives are: Association of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employers (AFBTE), and the Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria (DIBAN). She explained that the recommendation to ban these categories of alcohol was not hasty, as it had been a five year phase out plan.
She stated that “it is also important to clarify that the implementation of the ban on alcohol in sachets and small volume PET and glass bottles was not hasty.
“It is in line with the five-year phase-out plan of the affected presentations of alcoholic beverages which started in January 2019 and ended on Jan. 31, 2024.
“The five-year period granted to the industry stakeholders was a practical, reasonable and sufficient time for full compliance with the phase out of the production of alcoholic beverages in sachets and small volume PET and glass bottles below 200mls.
“For the avoidance of doubt, it is important to emphasise that the ban only affects alcoholic beverages in sachets and small volume PET and glass bottles below 200mls.
“Other presentations of alcoholic beverages are not affected by the ban, and therefore are still permitted for manufacture, importation, distribution, sale and use in Nigeria.”
Adeyeye said NAFDAC remained fully alive to her responsibilities and committed to putting the health of Nigerians in the forefront of regulatory actions, as the population’s health was the wealth of the nation.
She added that the primary focus of the ban was as a result of its accessibility, affordable, and portable presentation of high content alcohol in sachets and small volume PET and glass bottles below 200mls. She explained that the ban is in the interest of the health of the under-aged, vulnerable children and the larger society beyond the negative health consequences.
According to her, the ban is also to curb increasing vices attributable to harmful use of alcohol. She, therefore, called for continued support, cooperation and collaboration of Nigerians in the task of safeguarding the health of the nation.
(NAN)
