Stakeholders Call For Passage Of Food Safety, Quality Bill

Stakeholders have urged the National Assembly to speed up the passage of the National Food Safety and Quality Bill 2019 into law.

They made the plea on Tuesday at the validation workshop on the Draft National Policy on Food Safety and Quality and its Implementation Plan 2023 in Abuja.

The director and national coordinator, Food and Safety Programme, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Mr. John Atanda, said the bill is designed to address the existing gaps in food safety quality and also assign responsibility to every level of government.

He said, “So there was a need to have legislation to support it, and the National Food Safety and Health Committee that was set up by the provision of this policy developed the National Food Safety and Quality Bill.

“It went through all the legislative process and was sent to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent but was not assented to before the end of his administration.”

The director of Food and Drug Services, Mrs. Olubunmi Aribeana, said that in Nigeria, research has shown that over 200,000 people reportedly die from food poisoning and contamination every year.

Represented by the director of the Food, Chemical Cosmetics, and Water Safety Division at the ministry, Olufowobi-Yusuf noted that Nigeria needs a more solid and comprehensive policy to strengthen the food safety and quality sectors of the country, hence the need for the validation.

“Based on the government’s determination to modernise and strengthen its National Food Safety Control and Management System in line with global best practices and standards, the ministry and its partners have reviewed the existing National Food Safety Policy document to address the identified inherent gaps.

“This version will provide the framework for upgrading national capacity to develop and operate an integrated food safety control system to achieve more effective collaboration and coordination between agencies responsible for food quality control systems in Nigeria,” she said.