Africa-Press – Nigeria. 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.
Dr Martins Iluyomade, Director of Investigation and Enforcement at NAFDAC, disclosed the development to journalists on Tuesday, noting that the raid was part of sustained efforts to rid Nigerian markets of unsafe and unregulated products.
According to him, the seized items included large consignments of creams, soaps, body sprays, body washes, air fresheners, toothpaste, and unregistered tomato paste.
“We seized over 10,000 cartons of unregistered tomato paste, as well as cosmetics such as creams, soaps, body sprays, washes, air fresheners and toothpaste.
“We cannot guarantee the safety of these seized products because they have not undergone any regulatory scrutiny.
“One way to safeguard public health is to remove harmful products from markets before they can kill unsuspecting Nigerians.
“I can say authoritatively that deaths from substandard medicines, cosmetics and unsafe foods exceed the number of people killed by Boko Haram.
“This is why the agency remains committed to ensuring Nigerians use only products that have passed regulatory processes, assuring safety and effectiveness,” Iluyomade said.
He explained that a recently inaugurated multi-agency task force would strengthen NAFDAC’s nationwide surveillance against substandard medicines and unsafe processed foods.
Iluyomade also noted that the agency’s partnership with the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, had enhanced border checks and 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.
“The Nigeria Customs Service has handed over many seized fake products to us, and we have also transferred some to them,” he added.
The NAFDAC director urged manufacturers, importers, and distributors to take advantage of the agency’s decentralised registration process to verify and register their products, ensuring they meet regulatory standards before reaching the market.
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