Anietie Udobit, Abuja
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has sealed off a Chinese supermarket in Abuja for allegedly selling expired products and items labelled exclusively in Chinese without the required English translations, as mandated by NAFDAC regulations.
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NAFDAC, in a statement, said that the supermarket, located at Azba Mall, 2 Durban Street, Wuse 2, is managed by Chinese nationals who claimed they were in the process of obtaining a NAFDAC license and translating product labels into English, in compliance with regulatory requirements.
NAFDAC’s director of investigation and enforcement, Pharm. Shaba Mohammed, who led the enforcement, explained that the action followed credible information about regulatory violations at the supermarket. “We conducted due diligence to verify the claims,” he said.
Mr. Mohammed stated that the agency will continue its investigation to determine how such products, which violate labeling regulations, were imported into the country without being intercepted.
He added that the investigation would extend to the warehouse where the goods are stored, noting that 90 percent of the products on the shelves were labeled in Chinese. “This action aims to protect public safety by preventing the sale of these items,” he emphasised.
“Selling products labeled in foreign languages without English translation is a clear violation of our laws. If a product is labeled in languages such as Arabic, Chinese, or Hindi, it must have an English translation. More than 90 percent of the products we found were labeled in Chinese.”
He also highlighted concerns about Nigerian customers being unable to read the labels. “Some of the products are expired and still being sold,” he pointed out.
Even if the supermarket had a Global Listing permit, the products should have been labeled in English. “They have not provided any NAFDAC documents for these items. This is unacceptable, which is why we had to seal the supermarket,” he said.
NAFDAC will invite the supermarket’s operators for a thorough investigation. “You cannot operate in Nigeria and disregard our laws. This is a country, and we have rules that must be followed,” Mohammed stressed.