NAFDAC has clarified it did not ban alcohol production in bigger bottles but those contained in containers like sachet or PET bottles that are less than 200ml that a child can easily conceal and drink.
Mojisola Adeyeye, the Director-General of the agency noted that the clarification is necessary given the criticisms that have trailed last week’s ban on the spirit in sachets.
The ban has elicited reactions from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and the House of Representatives which had taken sides with DIBAN.
Sayo Akintola, the agency’s resident media consultant, in a statement, noted that the alcoholic content in sachets or PET bottles less than 200ml is 30 per cent while Beer has 4-8 per cent alcohol.
He added that the NAFDAC was only implementing the agreement earlier reached with the Association of Food, Beverage & Tobacco Employers (AFBTE) and Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria (DIBAN) with the ban on the products.
NAFDAC had in December 2018 signed an agreement with the Health Ministry, NAFDAC and the FCCPC to phase out the production of alcohol in sachet and PET bottles less than 200 ml by January 31, 2024.
“The agreement document is available and a five-year phase notice should be sufficient”, stated Akintola, who also noted that Nigeria had also reached a consensus with other parts of the world to protect youths from alcoholic consumption.
Nigeria, together with the other 192 member states of the World Health Organisation (WHO) reached a historical consensus on a global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol by adopting resolution WHA63.13 at the 63rd session of the World Health Assembly, held in Geneva in 2010.
“This agreement signed by Nigeria with other nations will protect youth by making alcohol not easily reachable and accessible was seven years before the 2018 agreement with DIBAN”, he said.
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