The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has said that the ban on the production of alcoholic beverages in sachets and small-volume PET and glass bottles below 200 mls 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 the Federal Ministry of Health, NAFDAC, and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).
Other representatives are the 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 January 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 200 ml.
“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 200 ml.
“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 at 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 the accessibility, affordability, and portable presentation of high-content alcohol in sachets and small-volume PET and glass bottles below 200 ml.
She explained that the ban is in the best interest of the health of the underage, vulnerable children, and the larger society beyond the negative health consequences.
According to her, the ban is also to curb increasing vices attributable to the harmful use of alcohol.
She, therefore, called for continued support, cooperation, and collaboration among Nigerians in the task of safeguarding the health of the nation. (NAN)
