The Federal Competitors and Client Safety Fee (FCCPC) has raised issues in regards to the circulation of substandard and unregistered sugar merchandise in Nigerian markets.
Based on a press launch issued on November twentieth, these smuggled manufacturers, primarily from Brazil, fail to satisfy necessary Vitamin A fortification necessities, posing important well being dangers and financial threats.
The FCCPC recognized manufacturers equivalent to Grupo Moreno, Terous, USI S. Joao, Alvean, and Arapora Bionergia as culprits.
The assertion revealed that these merchandise lacked important labeling, together with manufacturing and expiry dates, batch numbers, and NAFDAC registration.
“Lots of the recognized sugar merchandise lacked regular labeling, together with manufacturing and expiry dates, batch numbers, and the necessary Nationwide Company for Meals and Drug Administration and Management (NAFDAC) registration. Much more regarding, a lot of the merchandise weren’t fortified with Vitamin A, a vital nutrient important for good imaginative and prescient, immune well being, and general well-being. The absence of this fortification exposes Nigerian shoppers to critical well being dangers, together with blindness and elevated susceptibility to infections, significantly amongst weak teams equivalent to youngsters and pregnant girls,” they acknowledged.
The FCCPC pressured that the inflow of substandard sugar undermines the native sugar trade, creating unfair competitors for compliant producers. FCCPC famous that smugglers typically manipulate costs to deceive shoppers, placing undue strain on real producers.
“The inflow of smuggled sugar undermines honest competitors, putting undue strain on compliant native producers who adhere to regulatory requirements. Importers of those substandard merchandise interact in value manipulation to the detriment of real producers and shoppers, whereas pretending that the merchandise are real. This jeopardises the sustainability of the Nigerian sugar trade and in addition erodes shopper belief available in the market,” the assertion learn.
The FCCPC additionally identified that porous borders significantly from neighboring international locations equivalent to Cameroun and the Benin Republic additional complicate enforcement efforts and hamper traceability.
In response, the FCCPC is ramping up efforts to deal with the difficulty by means of a number of methods, together with:
The Fee added that trade stakeholders are being engaged to make sure compliance with high quality requirements and promote honest competitors throughout the sugar market and urged Nigerians to confirm sugar merchandise for correct labeling, together with proof of Vitamin A fortification and NAFDAC registration.
