The Food, Beverage, and Tobacco Senior Staff Association stormed the headquarters of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) yesterday and demanded a reversal of the ban placed on the production of alcohol in sachets and pet bottles below 200 millimetres.
Last week, NAFDAC began the enforcement of the ban on the importation, production, distribution, sale, and use of alcoholic beverages in sachets, PET, and glass bottles of 200 ml and below.
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Addressing a gathering of protesting members, the association’s national president, Comrade Jimoh Oyibo, stated that the ban was ill-advised, ill-timed, and considered economic sabotage.
He said that the ban will lead to massive job losses, loss of investment, and loss of revenue for the government.
He also stated the ban will promote smuggling, where unscrupulous elements will leverage it to flood the market with dangerous adulterated products, given the porosity of our borders.
In addition, he added that the ban will also erode investors’ confidence in our economy, with thousands thrown out of work.
Oyibo stated that the government should rather support businesses to stay afloat in this harsh economic environment.
He said that the association is willing to partner with NAFDAC and other stakeholders to sanitise the industry.
In response, NAFDAC maintained that the ban on the production and sale of alcoholic beverages in sachets and small polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles of less than 200 milliliters was not meant to affect the production of alcohol in bigger bottles, but only to prevent the easy access and consumption of alcohol by children and youths.
NAFDAC resident media consultant Sayo Akintola explained that the alcoholic content in sachets and small PET bottles was 30 percent, which was much higher than the 4–8 percent in beer.
He added that such a high concentration of alcohol posed a serious health risk to consumers, especially vulnerable groups.
Akintola also said that the ban was in line with the agreement signed by the Association of Food, Beverage, & Tobacco Employers (AFBTE) and the Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria (DIBAN) with the Ministry of Health (MoH), NAFDAC, and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) in December 2018.