NAFDAC No Longer Delays Laboratory Analysis of MSME Products, Says DG

NAFDAC No Longer Delays Laboratory Analysis of MSME Products, Says DG

Martins Ifijeh

As part of effort to remove bottlenecks in its dealings with the public, the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said it now expedites action on laboratory analysis of Micro, Small, Medium Enterprise (MSME) and Small.

Speaking at a sensitization programme on NAFDAC Guidelines for Registration of MSME Regulated Products held in Lagos yesterday, the Director General, NAFDAC, Prof. Christianah Mojisola Adeyeye said analysis of MSME products were now treated with utmost urgency compared to what entails before.

She said: “Because of the importance we have placed on MSME, the outcomes have been very satisfying as it has helped NAFDAC arrive at an improved official timeline for MSME registration as 90 days. Sometimes, we have been able to meet the timeline in about sixty (60) days.

“For the ease of the MSME products exportation, we have reviewed the guidelines such that applicants can make submission at the NAFDAC Zonal Offices and processed at the Ports Inspection Directorate (PID) within a timeline of 28 working days. This is believed to enhance the business and generate foreign exchange into the Nigerian economy.”

Adeyeye said the agency was now embracing institutional regulatory reforms for sustainability and was now entrenching a Quality Management System (QMS) that is making NAFDAC staff to think of the customer first in all its operations.

“This has led to certification on ISO 9001:2015 obtained June 7, 2019. Being a customer-focused, agency-minded business strategy, the goal has resulted in continuous improvement in overall performance in order to provide a stable foundation for entrenching a quality culture within the scope of our activities.”

She said the agency has embraced fully the deployment and use of ICT for operation, as well as build a more robust ICT platform. “We have enhanced our communication mode with the use of more secured emails, with all staff activating their official NAFDAC email to ease communication with you our esteemed stakeholders as well as fostering internal communication,” she added.

According to her, NAFDAC has scaled down some of its processes for the micro scale manufacturers without compromising standards and that the agency has put in place policies that will drive growth in the MSME sectors in line with ease of doing business, with emphasis on local production and the reason is not far-fetched.

“The number of documents, staff strength and room space were scaled down for the micro and likewise, the number of products they can manufacture. The boldest move made so far by the agency is consent for use of personal kitchens to manufacture certain classes of MSME products under micro scale.

“Still in the spirit of ease of doing business, we have put in place processes and procedures for companies with similar products and limited resources to use common facilities provided their products are similar. This initiative is designed to nurture new and small businesses by supporting entrepreneurs through the early stages of registration of their products. However, the initiative is restricted to MSME products only with examples being that of the Technology Incubation Centre (T.I.C), Ikorodu Development Centre (I.D.C), among others,” she said.

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