Lagos: The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has confiscated more than 10,000 cartons of unregistered tomato paste and cosmetic products during a raid at Lagos Trade Fair Market.
According to Voice of Nigeria, the five-day operation was led by NAFDAC’s Investigation and Enforcement team. The operation specifically targeted the cosmetics section of the market as part of ongoing efforts to remove harmful goods from circulation. Dr. Martins Iluyomade, Director of Investigation and Enforcement, addressed journalists, stating that the agency seized over 10,000 cartons of unregistered tomato paste, along with various cosmetic items such as creams, soaps, body sprays, washes, air fresheners, and toothpaste.
Dr. Iluyomade expressed concerns over the safety of the seized products, noting that they had not undergone any regulatory scrutiny. He emphasized the importance of removing harmful products from markets to safeguard public health, highlighting that deaths from substandard medicines, cosmetics, and unsafe foods exceed the number of people killed by Boko Haram. This underscores NAFDAC’s commitment to ensuring that Nigerians use only products that have passed regulatory processes, assuring their safety and effectiveness.
He also mentioned the establishment of a newly formed multi-agency task force intended to enhance NAFDAC’s surveillance against substandard medicines and unsafe foods. Dr. Iluyomade noted the collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service, which has already begun yielding positive results. The partnership includes a Memorandum of Understanding to prevent falsified and unregistered items from entering the country. The Nigeria Customs Service has handed over many seized fake products to NAFDAC, and vice versa.
Dr. Iluyomade urged Nigerians to take advantage of NAFDAC’s decentralised registration process to verify and register their products. He reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to eliminating unregistered, substandard, and expired goods from the market, emphasizing the importance of public safety and regulatory compliance.