The Director-General of National Agency for Food Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, has said the agency did not ban alcohol above 200ml in big bottle.
She said the agency only banned alcohol in containers or packing that a child can easily conceal, i.e., sachet or pet bottles less than 200ml.
She stated that the alcoholic content in sachet or pet bottles less than 200ml is 30% while beer has 4-8%.
She stated further that the Association of Food, Beverage & Tobacco Employers (AFBTE) and Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria (DIBAN) signed an agreement with MOH and NAFDAC and FCCPC in 2018 December that they will phase out production of alcohol in sachet and PET bottles less than 200 ml by January 31, 2024 and the agreement document is available.
“A five year phase out notice should be sufficient where Nigeria was one of the 193 member states of WHO that reached an historical consensus on a global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol by adopted resolution WHA63.13 at the sixty-third session of the World Health Assembly, held in Geneva in 2010,” she said.
She stated further that the agreement was seven years before her time and it was an agreement signed by Nigeria with other nations that it will protect youth by making alcohol not easily reachable and accessible.
