Post by Trade facilitator on Sept 15, 2021 17:07:36 GMT 1
Why Are Nigerian Agro-Food Exporters Still Having Problems With Food Exports In 2021?
It is on record that The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) Unveiled Global Certification For Food Exports in May 2019. Why is it that the country is still having problems exporting our food products to EU and the USA? The international market is still officially rejecting agro-foods from Nigeria in 2021.
The country really needs to look deeply into this problem as farmers and exporters are suffering due to this problem. Most countries in Africa are not having these impediments when it comes to their crops and food products being accepted in the international market.
In 2019, The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr. Segun Awolowo drew the attention of exporters to the certification that is needed to export food products to the global market.
The certification, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), is what is required to penetrate the international market for processed value-added products, particularly food items, according to The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr. Segun Awolowo.
This information was revealed to exporters and other stakeholders during a one-day awareness training programme on HACCP in Lagos. The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr. Segun Awolowo who was then represented by the Director Product Development Department, NEPC, Mr. William Ezeagu, stressed the competitive nature of the international market. He then explained to the participants that to compete, their exportable food products must acquire additional non-mandatory certifications.
He explained to the participants comprising of exporters and stakeholders that “Non-mandatory certifications, for example: ISO, HACCP, Good Manufacturing Practices, etc.) are global certifications that are trusted by consumers and end-users of products and services, and are attained based on the reputation of the certifying bodies”.
He said that the HACCP system is science-based and systematic; it identifies specific hazards and measures for their control to ensure the safety of food.
He revealed that “HACCP is a tool to assess hazards and establish control systems that focus on prevention rather than relying mainly on end-product testing.
“HACCP is important because it prioritizes and controls potential hazards in the food processes. This helps by controlling major food risks such as microbiological, chemical and physical contaminants. This will help the industry to better assure consumers that its products are safe and as good as science and technology allow”.
The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) also listed the advantages of the HACCP and other food safety certifications to include:
Compliance with customer and applicable regulatory requirements
An effective quality system recognition
Provision of competitive advantage
Improvement in product and company’s image
Enhancing the reputation of the company, and
Increased revenue generation through increased sales
A global certification body, Indian-based TopCertifier was engaged to train selected food processors and exporters on the HACCP Certification.
Also in April 2021, as part of its commitment to boost trade relationship with Nigeria, the Italian Trade Agency unveiled its training programme for entrepreneurs in the agriculture sector of the economy.
The Agency Director for West Africa, Alessandro Gerbino, said that the agency had unveiled an E-Lab Innova in Nigeria.
He said that the E-Lab Innova is an educational training programme for the Agri-food sector in Nigeria, which would be implemented in collaboration with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and other partners.
The Director said that the training is aimed at increasing the technical and managerial skills of Nigerian Agri-food companies in order to support their access to European Union (EU) markets and foster business partnerships with Italian companies.
Our question in this forum still remains: After all these programmes and many more we did not list here, why is it that Nigeria has not still solved the problem of rejection of agricultural food products by the EU and the US.
Stay with us as we will go all out to get the main problem militating against the progress in our agro-food industry in Nigeria.
This topic is very important to us in this company; the reason is that it is the only way that Nigeria can achieve greatness in the agricultural commodities export.
We are committed to helping farmers and exporters learn strategies to be used in solving this problem that has refused to be solved.
Stay with us for regular updates.
It is on record that The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) Unveiled Global Certification For Food Exports in May 2019. Why is it that the country is still having problems exporting our food products to EU and the USA? The international market is still officially rejecting agro-foods from Nigeria in 2021.
The country really needs to look deeply into this problem as farmers and exporters are suffering due to this problem. Most countries in Africa are not having these impediments when it comes to their crops and food products being accepted in the international market.
In 2019, The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr. Segun Awolowo drew the attention of exporters to the certification that is needed to export food products to the global market.
The certification, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), is what is required to penetrate the international market for processed value-added products, particularly food items, according to The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr. Segun Awolowo.
This information was revealed to exporters and other stakeholders during a one-day awareness training programme on HACCP in Lagos. The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr. Segun Awolowo who was then represented by the Director Product Development Department, NEPC, Mr. William Ezeagu, stressed the competitive nature of the international market. He then explained to the participants that to compete, their exportable food products must acquire additional non-mandatory certifications.
He explained to the participants comprising of exporters and stakeholders that “Non-mandatory certifications, for example: ISO, HACCP, Good Manufacturing Practices, etc.) are global certifications that are trusted by consumers and end-users of products and services, and are attained based on the reputation of the certifying bodies”.
He said that the HACCP system is science-based and systematic; it identifies specific hazards and measures for their control to ensure the safety of food.
He revealed that “HACCP is a tool to assess hazards and establish control systems that focus on prevention rather than relying mainly on end-product testing.
“HACCP is important because it prioritizes and controls potential hazards in the food processes. This helps by controlling major food risks such as microbiological, chemical and physical contaminants. This will help the industry to better assure consumers that its products are safe and as good as science and technology allow”.
The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) also listed the advantages of the HACCP and other food safety certifications to include:
Compliance with customer and applicable regulatory requirements
An effective quality system recognition
Provision of competitive advantage
Improvement in product and company’s image
Enhancing the reputation of the company, and
Increased revenue generation through increased sales
A global certification body, Indian-based TopCertifier was engaged to train selected food processors and exporters on the HACCP Certification.
Also in April 2021, as part of its commitment to boost trade relationship with Nigeria, the Italian Trade Agency unveiled its training programme for entrepreneurs in the agriculture sector of the economy.
The Agency Director for West Africa, Alessandro Gerbino, said that the agency had unveiled an E-Lab Innova in Nigeria.
He said that the E-Lab Innova is an educational training programme for the Agri-food sector in Nigeria, which would be implemented in collaboration with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and other partners.
The Director said that the training is aimed at increasing the technical and managerial skills of Nigerian Agri-food companies in order to support their access to European Union (EU) markets and foster business partnerships with Italian companies.
Our question in this forum still remains: After all these programmes and many more we did not list here, why is it that Nigeria has not still solved the problem of rejection of agricultural food products by the EU and the US.
Stay with us as we will go all out to get the main problem militating against the progress in our agro-food industry in Nigeria.
This topic is very important to us in this company; the reason is that it is the only way that Nigeria can achieve greatness in the agricultural commodities export.
We are committed to helping farmers and exporters learn strategies to be used in solving this problem that has refused to be solved.
Stay with us for regular updates.
