Customs, rice farmers sign MoU to fi ght rice smuggling

Th e Nigeria Customs Service and the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to fi ght rice smuggling through land border into the country. President Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Alhaji Aminu Goronyo, who disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja regretted that despite the ban on importation of rice through the land borders since April 2016 importation of the product continues. Further, he added that besides land border importation ban of rice into the Nigerian market from the Export Processing Zones (EPZ), yet smugglers still engaged in the unwholesome act.

Goronyo warned Nigerians against the consumption of foreign rice, saying that most of the imported rice is stale and only meant for animal and fi sh feeds. He said result of test by NAFDAC through some samples of some of the rice seizures had ascertained that smuggled rice through the land borders was unfi t for human consumption adding that “99 per cent of rice smuggled through the land borders are not fi t for human consumption,” he said. Goronyo said that the annual rice production in Nigeria has increased from 5.5 million tonnes in 2015 to 5.8 million tonnes in 2017. He said that in 2015, Nigerians spent not less than N1 billion daily on rice consumption, adding that while spending had drastically reduced, consumption had increased because of increased local production of the commodity.

“Th e consumption rate now is 7.9 million tonnes, while the production rate is 5.8 tonnes per annum,’’ he said. He lauded the eff orts of the Customs Service stating that the Comptroller-General, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (rtd), had recently reiterated at a joint meeting with RIFAN and Customs that rice importation remain banned through the land borders. Th e RIFAN President said to ensure eff ective monitoring of the land borders, the ComptrollerGeneral has approved a 12-man implementation committee to be headed by Assistant Comptroller-General, Alino Dangaladima He said Customs promised to continue to ensure the restriction of rice import through the land borders to boost local production adding that all agreed that there was need for total ban on rice importation and eff ective monitoring of the land borders to stop the activities of the smugglers. Th e RIFAN president added that the customs boss reinstated that any attempt to import rice through the land borders would be resisted, saying the position remain unchanged

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