The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has confiscated more than 10,000 cartons of unregistered tomato paste and cosmetic products during a five-day enforcement operation at the cosmetics section of the Lagos Trade Fair market.
According to Hobnob News, the Director of Investigation and Enforcement at NAFDAC, Dr. Martins Iluyomade, disclosed the development to journalists on Tuesday, describing the raid as part of sustained efforts to rid Nigerian markets of unsafe and unregulated products.
The seized items included large consignments of creams, soaps, body sprays, body washes, air fresheners, toothpaste, and unregistered tomato paste.
“We cannot guarantee the safety of these seized products because they have not undergone any regulatory scrutiny,” Iluyomade said. “One way to safeguard public health is to remove harmful products from markets before they can kill unsuspecting Nigerians.”
He stressed that deaths from substandard medicines, cosmetics, and unsafe foods exceed those caused by Boko Haram, underscoring the agency’s determination to ensure Nigerians only use products that have passed regulatory processes to assure safety and effectiveness.
Iluyomade noted that a recently inaugurated multi-agency task force will boost NAFDAC’s nationwide surveillance against substandard medicines and unsafe processed foods. He also highlighted the agency’s partnership with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), which has strengthened border checks and led to the interception of harmful goods.
“We are working hard to prevent falsified and unregistered items from entering the country, hence our Memorandum of Understanding with the Nigeria Customs Service,” he explained. “The NCS has handed over many seized fake products to us, and we have also transferred some to them.”
The NAFDAC director urged manufacturers, importers, and distributors to utilise the agency’s decentralised registration process to verify and register their products before they reach the market, ensuring they meet regulatory standards.
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