The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has ordered manufacturers of alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets and PET bottles below 200ml to recall the products nationwide.
The agenda has also ordered the destruction of the recalled products under its supervision, saying manufacturers will bear the full cost of the exercise.
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In a statement issued on Monday by its Director General, Mojisola Adeyeye, NAFDAC said the directive followed the signing of an Irrevocable Enforcement Undertaking by the Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria (DIBAN), the Association of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employers (AFBTE), and their member companies.
Under the undertaking, affected manufacturers are required to immediately recall the prohibited alcoholic drinks from distributors, warehouses and other points within the supply chain and submit periodic compliance reports to NAFDAC.
The agency said all recalled products would undergo inventory verification before being destroyed under its supervision.
“The agency wishes to emphasize that all recalled alcoholic products shall be subjected to inventory verification and destruction under NAFDAC supervision in accordance with the terms of the enforcement undertaking,” it noted.
Why NAFDAC is enforcing the ban
NAFDAC said the ban on alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets and small-volume containers followed years of consultations between regulators, manufacturers and government agencies.
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The agency said it first raised concerns in 2018 over the widespread availability of high-alcohol-content drinks in sachets and small bottles, which it described as cheap, easy to conceal and readily accessible to minors.
A five-year moratorium was subsequently agreed with manufacturers in December 2018 to allow them to gradually phase out the products and move to larger packaging.
