Nigeria agro products have been suffering from export reject by most countries of Asia, Europe and America,Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment,has said.
He said the development has has led to huge financial losses with its attendant negative impact on the supply value chain and job creation.
He spoke on Thursday while inaugurated a committee to look into the issue of rejection of Nigeria agro produce in the international market.
The committee whose membership is drawn from the ministry and some parastatals of the ministry and Ministry of Agriculture is headed by the Director, Commodities and Export Department, Mr Suleiman Audu, is charged with the responsibility of identifying the major causes of the rejection of the agro produce and proffer appropriate recommendations.
Adebayo said the Federal Government placed a lot of emphasis on the promotion of non- oil commodity exports, which has led to farmers and product aggregators partnering to explore the export market for their products.
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He said the problem of quality, standard, certification and appropriate packaging for local. products for export has been a recurring issue, hence the need to set up the technical committee to address the issue and proffer appropriate recommendations.
Some of the terms of reference for the committee include to identify the major causes for the export reject of Nigerian agro commodities; determine the roles played by exporters or institutional infractions that tend to promote export reject of Nigerian agro commodities as well as suggest measures necessary to strengthen the capacity of exporters to improve the quality, standard, certification, and packaging for made-in-Nigeria products for export.
The committee is expected to develop the policy framework for global gap certification and quality packaging that is environmentally friendly for global trade;suggest ways of getting government at all levels to support farmers to key into global gap certification for increased productivity and export; and suggest appropriate model/partnership for development of standard storage facilities for products before arriving at their final destinations;
Other terms of reference of the committee are to suggest means of strengthening assessment of export products by the appropriate and designated competent authorities an suggest other measures the committee deems fit to curb infractions and improve acceptability of Nigerian agro exports globally.
