The Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), has provided revised 10 guidelines for exporters of agricultural commodities to avoid rejection in the destination countries.
Dr Chigozie Nwodo, the Head of Media, Communication and Strategies Unit, NAQS disclosed this in a statement.
Nwodo said that Nigerian agro-commodities were rejected abroad because some of the exporters were not following the guidelines and some smuggled consignments that were not meant for export.
He said that agricultural items intended for export might be rejected for some reasons but if followed properly agro-commodities would be accepted all over the world which would definitely boost the economy.
According to him, the absence of sanitary and phytosanitary certificate which is normally issued after inspection and certification of the content of the cargo can cause rejection.
“Sanitary must be in accordance with the conditions on the import permit of the destination country. The exporter must submit the items for inspection and certification by NAQS and obtain the applicable certificate prior to shipment.
“The produce intended for export must be free of harmful organisms or toxic substances and all information required in the sanitary/ phytosanitary certificate must be provided legibly in print.
“Forgery and alteration of certificate forgery or alteration will render the certificate invalid and make products subject to rejection.
“Any alteration in the date on the certificate, type of consignment, weight and volume of consignment, and authorised signature on the certificate renders it invalid. A certificate with mutilated particulars is, therefore, unacceptable,’’ he said.
He added that wrong labelling was another obstacle because the information on the label of the cargo must be descriptive of the exact contents of the cargo as they were in the Sanitary and Phytosanitary certificates.
“Concealment of strange agro-produce in a consignment of certified commodity concealment of an uncertified agricultural item in the consignment of certified produce earns total rejection.
“Improper export procedure, certain products require the exporter to give the NAQS advance notification of country to which export is intended.
“Exporting prohibited items are not accepted because some countries prohibit the export of certain agricultural items. The cargo of products on the prohibition list of the destination is liable to rejection at the port of entry,’’ Nwodo said.
Other guidelines are the absence of additional declaration, some countries require declarations like date of harvest, place of harvest, whether there are any special handling precautions in addition to the sanitary/phytosanitary certificate.
“Use of unapproved fumigants, the detection of residues of unapproved fumigants in the produce intended for export may constitute the basis for rejection of the cargo.’’
News Credit: Nigerian Tribune