Issues in export of processed foods

By Professor Dora Akunyili, Director General, NAFDAC

Prof. Dora Akunyili, Director General,
NAFDAC

To fully realise the benefits inherent in export of processed foods, it is of paramount importance that export products meet international standards, thereby averting the risk of rejections and blacklisting.

The aim of international food safety requirements is to safeguard the health of consumers, maintaining consumer confidence. As a result, there have been significant changes to the international landscape over the past decade, such that the demands on companies at all stages of the food chain have become greater as they respond to increasing levels of legislation and industry requirements. Clearly, it is necessary for all stakeholders to be aware of the nature and requirements and, in particular, NAFDAC’s role in regulating non-oil exports under its mandate.

The NAFDAC mandate
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) was established by Decree 15 of 1993 (now NAFDAC Act Cap No.1 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004) to regulate and control the importation, exportation, manufacture, advertisement, distribution, sale and use of drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, packaged water/drinks, and chemicals (called regulated products)

It is also empowered to be the national agency for the registration of food and drugs (regulated products) by the Food, Drug and Related Products (Registration) Decree 19 of 1993 (now Food, Related Products Registration Act Cap F33 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004), This means that no regulated product as listed earlier, shall be manufactured, imported, exported, advertised or distributed in Nigeria unless it has been registered by NAFDAC. Therefore, all regulated products, whether for the domestic market or for export must be registered by NAFDAC.

The mandate for certifying packaged, processed or semi-processed food commodities for export, previously carried out by the Department of Public Health Services, was assigned to NAFDAC in 2003. The Agency is now well positioned to take up the challenges of this responsibility. Specifically,

•The Agency now receives and handles all rapid alert system for food and feed notifications, that is, frequent alert notifications from European Union. countries due to high failure in Nigerian exports from contaminants e.g. afflatoxins, microbial pathogens, etc).

•The Agency possesses accredited laboratories for analysis of pesticide formulations/ microbiological pathogens, contaminants (colorants, preservatives) and mycotoxins.

Export of processed foods
As mentioned earlier, the Agency regulates both export of prepackaged food products, and packaged semi-processed/ processed food commodities.

Export of prepackaged food products
These exports are limited mainly to the West African countries. Companies like West African Seasoning Co. Ltd, Nigeria Breweries Ltd, Unilever Nigeria Plc etc, frequently come to the Agency for certification of their products for export. Once these products have current registration licenses and the GMP status of manufacturing establishment are satisfactory, a Combined Certificate of Manufacture and Free sale is immediately issued to the product for export.

Export of packaged semi processed/processed food commodities
Many exporters now pass through the Agency to certify their products for export. However, some fraudulent exporters, in an attempt to evade the right procedures for export, destroy integrity of Nigeria/Nigerian products in the international markets. The issuance of a health certificate for export from the Agency is based on sampling and analysis of semi processed/processed food commodities intended for export because these category of products are more or less perishables.
Requirements for international trade (Exports)

Sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures are regulations put in place by any member country of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to ensure safety of food or food ingredients that are from animal or plant sources, that could adversely affect human beings, plants and animals.

The safety standards and regulations of regulatory bodies are the bench marks for WTO during settlement of trade disputes between countries in order to minimize potential barriers to trade. The WTO Agreement on SPS measures and protects against national standards being used as powerful tools to impede international trade or being used indiscriminately against developing nations.

However, adoption and application of these international standards by member countries in place of their national standards is voluntary. Consequently, many of the difficulties in international trade in food arise from the need for exporting countries to comply with a confusing plethora of food requirements existing in importing countries. Some prevailing realities/ challenges in international trade are:

(1) Developed countries have rules and procedures (standards, limits, regulations, etc.) that are more stringent than that of the mentioned international bodies. They also have scientific evidences, records, expertise, structures and regulations in place to justify whatever SPS measures they put in place.

(2) Developed countries are no longer satisfied with the final testing of imported finished products at their point of entry. They require assurance that each of the food chain processes that culminated in the finished or semi-processed products is free of contamination and there are mitigation measures in place to reduce such incidences to the barest minimum. This assurance is in form of certification from government bodies and not individuals. For this purpose, they have set up risk analysis offices and SPS offices to process both internal and incoming products SPS issues.

Since the onus of ensuring safety of food exports rests on the regulatory bodies, NAFDAC has been liasing with the International bodies as the World Trade Organisation/Sanitary and Phytosanitay (WTO/SPS) enquiry point. To facilitate this status, an SPS enquiring website (www.spsenquiry pointnigeria.net) has been created to facilitate international trade, to create an electronic access between the entrepreneurs in food and agricultural products and the relevant government bodies responsible for specific SPS matters affecting their products, to respond to enquiries on standards, regulations, guidelines, contacts persons, etc that will aid international trade in food, animal and plant products, to provide health alerts on unsafe products, and enable the country lodge complaints of discriminatory treatment in trade transactions.

The role of NAFDAC in non-oil exports is three-fold
(1) Regulation,

(11) Inspection/registration, and

(111) Certification.

Regulation
The Codex Unit of NAFDAC is the custodian of standards, guidelines and codes of practice of the Codex Alimentarious Commission (CAC) that ensures food is safe and suitable for human consumption. CAC also emphasizes the establishment of essential principles of food hygiene through the food chain and recommends a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) based approach to enhance food safety.

Regulations associated with export food control and Inspection is generally of two types:

General regulations: These provide the general or common requirements to be met by all prescribed foods for export and subject to export Inspection. They also provide details of procedures to be adopted by exporters seeking approval from the Agency for export certificates to export prescribed goods.

Product/Commodity regulations: Each prescribed product or group of products has its own regulations. These regulations contain detailed technical requirements and standards for specific products and their handling preparation, processing, packaging, labeling, storage and transport. They also provide for the level of additives and maximum residue levels or contaminants of all sorts.

Registration
The Establishment, Inspection and Registration & Regulatory Directorates of NAFDAC are involved in the inspection of food manufacturing establishments, find the certification of food establishments that have conformed to NAFDAC requirements and guidelines for registration. An essential part of an effective export control and inspection is the control of export establishments. A well managed, well equipped, clean and efficiently run establishment is most likely to export safe products of acceptable quality, whereas a poorly managed, poorly equipped, unclean and inefficiently run establishment is most unlikely to produce goods that are safe and acceptable for export.

It is actually essential that goods for export should be prepared in and inspected at certified establishments. The practice in developed countries, for instance, USA, requires that all domestic and foreign facilities that manufacture/ process, pack or hold food for human or animal consumption in the USA be registered with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This would enable traceability and monitoring of SPS measures.

The key obligations of the European Union Regulation also emphasize::
•safety of food and feed,

•traceability / transparency of suppliers/operators

•preventive measures i.e. regular identification and review of critical points in their

•processes and ensuring that adequate controls are applied at these points

•co-operation of operators with competent authorities in other to reduce risks.

.NAFDAC establishes the conditions an establishment must comply with to qualify for registration of its products and indicates the procedure to be followed by the exporter in applying for the registration of their products through the registration uuidelines. The guidelines require the manufacturer to apply in writing, submit plans or specifications of both the establishment and equipment used or to be used in product handling preparation, processing as well as details of types of products to be prepared in the establishment.

If, on inspection, the establishment meets the requirements of the product regulations for the products to be prepared in it, possesses adequate first aid and safety services, and if the operation of the establishment is controlled by fit and adequately qualified staff (as defined in the Regulations) and the prescribed registration fee is paid, then the products would be registered in the name of the Occupier(s),

Registration is usually for a prescribed period of 5 years and the establishment is issued with a registration certificate for the products and a NAFDAC Registration number. The Agency possess( the right to cancel any registration if the establishment is structurally altered and becomes unsuitable for the operations it was registered for.

Packaging
This is an important aspect of presenting prescribed goods in an acceptable condition for export marketing. Sound packaging guarantees that prescribed goods approved for export will arrive at their destinations unchanged if transport conditions are satisfactory.

It is required that packaging material used for prescribed goods for export meets the requirements of the product regulations, is new, does not place the acceptability of the goods at risk, is suitable for the product, does not react with the product and is sufficiently strong to withstand handling during transit.

Vetting of packaging materials is carried out by the R & R Directorate during the registration process and also the PID inspectors at the points of dispatch.

Trade description
Many developed countries, including the most important food importing nations, have mandatory trade description requirements that are applied to imports. It is mandatory in most developed countries to include in any trade description:

•a true description of goods e.g name of product, batch No, manufacturer’s/exporter’s address e.t.c.

• a list of ingredients in descending order of proportions as required by the product regulations,

•the net contents,

•the date of packaging in clear or code (as directed in the product regulations),

• the country of origin, and

• labels that are legible and in a colour that contrasts with any background colour.

Notice of intention to export prescribed goods
An essential element of an export control and inspection system is a requirement that exporters inform the Agency by applying in writing, stating their intention to export prescribed goods. NAFDAC Guidelines for Export of Regulated Products (Prepackaged Products) and the Guidelines for Export of Food Commodities are attached.
Certification

The Export Certificate
This is simply a certificate which the Agency issues on any prescribed goods officially approved for export and can therefore be cleared by Customs official at the point of exit. Even, after the certificate has been issued, an authorised NAFDAC officer can reinspect the goods, withdraw them from export if their condition has changed considerably, and retrieve the certificate. This is why it is extremely important that NAFDAC and all government bodies concerned are present at the loading and sealing of a container for export.

The Agency issues two types of certificates for export:
i.The Combined Certificate of Manufacture and Free Sale which certifies to the importing country that the regulated product is manufactured under acceptable conditions and is freely sold in the country of origin. This certificate is issued on prepackaged food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices and other regulated products.

ii. The Health Certificate is issued on packaged semi-processed or processed Food Commodities for Export.