In a bid to put an end to the perennial rejections of Nigerian non-oil export products in Europe, the Americas and other parts of the world, the Federal Government says it has set up a special technical committee with a view finding lasting solution.
This was made known by the Chairman of the Technical Committee on Export Rejects and Director, Commodity and Export Department of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Suleiman Adedayo Audu, who said in Abuja that the committee would work hard to make recommendations on ending the rejection of Nigeria’s products.
He noted that the terms of reference of the committee were to identify reasons for the rejections and proffer solutions to them.
In his own contribution, the Executive Director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC, Dr. Ezra Yakusak, said the committee had a five-week mandate to identify gaps and proffer solutions to the problem.
According to Dr Yakusak, the NEPC initiated the “Go Global, Go Certification” project with a view to ending the rejection of Nigerian products, adding that it was targeted at securing appropriate international certifications for products of Nigerian origin.
He noted that about 50 SMEs had so far benefited from the programme.
Over the time, there has been reports of incessant rejection of food and agricultural commodities from Nigeria by the United States of America USA and the European Union member countries over what she described as “poor quality”.
Nigerian products are often rejected in several parts of the world due to poor use of chemicals and the like. In 2015, a consignment of Nigerian beans was barred from entering Europe owing to wrong use of chemicals. The ban imposed on Nigerian beans is yet to be lifted seven years after.
