The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has cautioned clearing agents and importers against illegal activities, saying sanctions await culprits of any shady deals.

According to NAFDAC’s spokesman, Olusayo Akintola, the agency’s Director General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, during a recent virtual stakeholders’ meeting, read the agents and importers the riot act.

He quoted Mrs. Adeyeye saying, “NAFDAC will not tolerate any unprofessional act from its stakeholders; the disturbing development where agents, with the connivance of importers, engage in the falsification of documents will not be tolerated nor treated with kid gloves any longer.

“We shall take all legal means as an agency set up by the Law of Nigeria to prosecute any erring stakeholders, importers.”

The NAFDAC boss, who advised importers to desist from entrusting the entire process of clearing their consignments to agents, added, “You are urged to initiate the clearance of your goods. I am happy to state that from wherever in the world, you can process the clearance of your products with NAFDAC without visiting any formation of NAFDAC or port offices.”

She also advised importers and clearing agents to ensure that they completed every clearing transaction with NAFDAC “up to the point of generation of NAFDAC electronic Release Notices.”

She added, “I wish to appeal that you comply with the fast-changing updates currently ongoing in NAFDAC, these include the current issuance of electronic NAFDAC Invoices, NAFDAC Receipts, First Endorsement Notices, and Release Notices.

“We are conscientiously working toward assisting stakeholders to achieve regulatory compliance by ensuring that these requirements are made transparent and accessible to stakeholders through the availability of regulations, guidelines, tariff, and process requirements on the NAFDAC website.

“I have also ensured that we maintain transparency and continue the implementation of the Quality Management Systems in our ports processes; this has led to a review and update of existing standard operating procedures.”

(NAN)