… aviacargo committee seeks solution via certified labs
… committee wants Nigeria on tops in 3 years
Stakeholders in the aviacargo sub-sector have expressed worry that most foreign aircraft and ship that come into Nigeria come with loads of cargo but leave the country empty, a pointer to the fact that Nigeria is not excelling in exportation despite the diverse agricultural product (agrocargo) that this part of the continent of Africa is blessed with.
Based on this misnomer the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) last year set up an Aviacargo roadmap committee to x-ray the situation, identify the challenges and possible ways of solution.
To buttress this, coordinator of the committee, Ambassador Ikechi Uko, who has been at the centre of this campaign through the CHINET Aviacargo Conference organised annually by him, noted that Nigeria is the biggest economy with the largest population, yet it falls below expectation in this sector coming behind Kenya and some other countries to the number five position in aviacargo in Africa.
He said he wondered why the acceptability of Nigeria’s farm produce is quite low in the international market, even with the fact that Nigeria is a leader in the production of so many commodities, also with available markets.
According to him, apart from the logistics problems affecting this industry in Nigeria there is also a gap in the laboratories necessary to test and certify products from indigenous exporters to meet standards of other countries and not be rejected.
“This calls for concern,” he said, disclosing that it was on this premise that the government (FAAN) inaugurated a team to find solutions to the problems and ensure standards are inculcated.
In view of this, the committee on Friday embarked on a tour of the laboratories of some government agencies and also a private laboratory in Lagos. The agencies are the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Services (NAQS) while the private laboratory is Katchey.
Uko said “the visit is important to help us understand the export process and the journey of the product or produce to the airplane.
“Nigeria is the biggest economy with the largest population, but it is number five in aviacargo in Africa. Kenya is number one even though it doesn’t have the largest economy, population, airlines or airport. What are they doing right in Kenya?
“So we are trying to understand why we are number five, why we should be number one, and how to get there. We want to be number one in the next three years.
“We’ve done the airport assessment, we’ve seen the Nigeria Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO), Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO), and the cargo processes.
“Aside the logistics problems, there are issues with the products/produce, one of which is rejection abroad and ban from exportation of many things.
“The journey of the produce from the farm to the table has to pass through some places and we found out that there is a gap, which is in the laboratories, as the products need to pass through a laboratory.
“So, where are the laboratories that are supposed to certify them? Why do we have to take our products to Ghana to export? We decided to find out what the laboratories actually do, in order to institute them as part of the report we will give to the government, stating the necessity.
“NAFDAC, SON and NAQS have laboratoriess, so why are the products still being rejected?
“We decided to also come to a private laboratory (Katchey) to understand what you do here, and how it can be a major part of the template for export. We are number one in the production of so many products, but we don’t export any.
“The mango season is on and most of them are going to get rotten, but Mali is exporting tonnes of mangoes. What’s the difference? What are they doing that we aren’t?
“I hear stories of how they are looking for Nigerian snails in China, hibiscus in America, African Rosewood plant (oha) and many others, but we can’t send.
“We need to be able to organise it in a way that there is a flow path. Part of our result will be to create that flow path that exporters need laboratory certifications and other things to get their products out there.”
Responding, the Chief Executive Officer of Katchey Company Limited (Katchey Laboratories), an American National Standard Institute (ANSI) National Accreditation Board (ANAB) laboratory, Mrs. Kate Isa, hammered on the issue of compromise, saying that everyone involved in the export chain must not compromise but adhere to standards.
She said it is to our detriment that we are not exporting, noting that export of agricultural products should be given primary attention because oil has failed.
Isa urged regulatory bodies to set and enforce standards ensuring that farmers and farms receive accreditation before embarking on farming for export.
She stressed that defaulters should not be allowed to continue to be part of the chain but be delisted.
The CEO disclosed that Katchey is passionate about Nigerian products gaining acceptability abroad and part of their contribution in this regard is to partner exporters that use their labs; following them from the point of test till when it scales through overseas.
She stated that any product/product with Katchey’s certification cannot be turned down anywhere abroad.
Her words: “Katchey is an ANAB world accreditation institute. Why did we go out to get the accreditation? We went abroad because there is a cloud of corruption that hangs over Nigeria so whatever you bring from here is queried outside.
“November last year when Fidelity took a team out to try and find export market for Nigeria, I talked to Winas; Winas is the biggest supplier of supermarket chain in the UK and they told me that they used to import a lot of things from Nigeria, they will pay the exporter (the supplier), carry containers get to the port in London and it will be held there.
“No matter what certificate you brought it will be held there until they run their own test and if it passes they let it go. They pay demurrage, they pay for the test they run. So because of this problem they stopped coming to Nigeria to buy anything, they go to Ghana, they go to Benin Republic, they went to those other parts of Africa where things work to buy the African products because the African market is booming in the UK and New York as well.
“Now when they heard about Katchey they were excited and they now refer to the people they want to buy from to us.
“Katchey equips laboratories, we spent years equipping other people’s labs and one of our biggest achievements was partnering the late Professor Dora Akinyuli to equip and retool all of NAFDAC laboratoriess across the country.
“She got President Obasanjo at the time to approve an exclusive agreement with Katchey for this, we took them from manual equipment to automated equipment. the analyst will put 150 samples and go away to obtain their result and you cannot question the result.
“I read a ThisDay report that said she (Akunyuli) credited Katchey at the time for a good portion of her success because we reequipped her laboratories and made them World Health Organisation (WH0) accredited, we helped them to get there.
“That was why they were able to shut down Coca cola, shut down Nestle and nobody could challenge them because the laboratories were doing the right thing. Before we came on board she told them and the President as well that you will do test of a sample today, repeat it in the same lab it will give a different result, take it to another laboratory it’ll give a different result because the equipment were manual but we took NAFDAC to cutting edge technology and accreditation so that no result from NAFDAC laboratory has a question.
“We also did what we call vendor supply management where they will tell us what they need in a year. We plan it out, deliver at the time they need it so they never have to be out of stock. After five years President Obasanjo told her to renew.
“Right now we’re the leading supplier into SON, some of the equipment you see there we supplied them. We install and maintain their equipment; our engineers maintain them.”
Continuing, she pointed out the need for Nigeria’s export to be improved in order not to lose out from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“And we saw African Continental Trade and we saw the gap in that there is nobody in the private independent analytical lab sector. NAFDAC can certify products when you’re registering it but NAFDAC cannot certify a product into export.
“No organisation abroad can accept NAFDAC’s certification on export, they have to test those NAFADAC standards; an independent laboratory has to certify those products and say yes indeed you followed what NAFDAC set up and therefore you’re qualified.
“SON cannot certify products, they set standards and tell you these are the limits, this is what we want but an independent analytical laboratory should certify, should test and see that indeed your sample has passed those limits.
“And that is where we saw the gap and thinking of AfCFTA and knowing that if our people are not prepared and ready we will miss that opportunity and since oil is bastardised, we don’t have oil, we know the state of oil now. So that makes it more important, that makes it urgent what you people are doing, to ensure we export and our export is not rejected.
“Somebody brought six samples of beans here for a test because they were working to get a lift on the ban of Nigeria for exportation. We analysed the samples here in our lab. Five of the samples passed and the sixth one failed.
“Then my people kept on retesting the sixth sample but I told them to certify the ones that passed and then trace why and how the sixth failed. That is the difference between Katchey, which is a Nigerian company that has passion for Nigeria and wants Nigerian exporters to export without being rejected and other labs that just carry out tests.
“We follow you through, what we’re doing is like partnership to the end to even find out why your product didn’t pass,” he explained.
Isa gave a note of warning that exporters must ensure that their produce is up to the required standard.
“When the customer tells us the country of destination, we analyse and compare with the specification of that country. If it doesn’t meet their standard, then we let you know it cannot go, so that when we eventually certify your product, it won’t be rejected,” she stated.
At the NAFDAC Central Laboratory, Doctor Charles Nwachukwu, in charge of the laboratory, said that there was a need to streamline the system to ensure that things are working for exporters to latch on and not have their products rejected.
He disclosed that NAFDAC as a way of boosting exports in the country does not charge any exporter to test their product but that a lot of exporters avoid this examination, “they may do one examination and leave the rest.”
The NAFDAC Official corrected the impression that NAFDAC certification is rejected outside Nigeria saying that “there is nowhere in the world where they will reject the certificate issued by NAFDAC. There was no time this happened, because we have one of the best laboratories in Africa.
“NAFDAC has about seven laboratories and five of them are concerned with food. The Oshodi laboratory is the centre of excellence. We have some of the best facilities when we talk about laboratory quality and we are improving on the equipment that are available.
Nwachukwu charged exporters to follow due process and acquaint themselves with what is required from the country of origin and export.
He said: “There have been a lot of enlightenment campaigns and most exporters choose not to be aware and try to beat the system. Then when the products get abroad, it is rejected when tested and found not to meet the set standard.
“The reason our commodities are taken to Ghana is for it not to be labelled Nigerian products. Our exporters should know what is required from the country of destination and make sure it is met.
“Nigerians should learn to follow due process, as they will make more money, and the country’s name will be restored.
“For example, if you are exporting maize, and the aflatoxin level of maize required in Europe is 0.4ppm, the agricultural extension workers can assist the farmers to know when to harvest and the appropriate storage process.
“The quality of the produce coming out of our farms lies in the hands of extension workers in the federal, state and local government levels.
“Another issue arises from preservation. In the bid to protect their investments, some use pesticides and other chemicals which are wrong, causing rejections.
“We have been sensitising our people on the implication of this action, and we will continue to do so. Sometimes they use preservatives higher than what is required and that is the cause of the rejection. It has been pesticide residue and mycotoxin level mainly that has been causing the rejects.
According to him, NAFDAC was ready to partner with other agencies to grow the export and health system, and is currently working with NAQS to streamline the export of agricultural commodities and finished products, in order to issue the various required certifications.
“This issue of exportation has been a concern to me; if you have a competitive advantage over us as a laboratory, go ahead and do the examination and if it’s us (NAFDAC) we do it.
On her own part, the Head of the NAQS Pack House at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), called for a uniform standard certification for Nigerian exports just as we have in other countries.
This, she explained, would curb the confusion created by different agencies coming with different standards, “so when we go out there we present different standards which could also cause rejection.”
On the activity of NAQS as regards export, she said it accredits farms and assigns officers for regular supervision, in addition they inspect harvest to ensure a check on toxin level of farm produce.
She said any produce that does not meet export standards are condemned and she also used the opportunity to solicit for a more spacious outlet from FAAN to enable them to work with ease.
Another challenge according to her is that of delays from ground handling companies and other government agencies during inspection as some of the perishable farm produce such as vegetables could lose their freshness before they leave the country.
To address this problem, Ubiagoro disclosed that the agency plans to introduce seals for boxes to protect already inspected commodities, which will be done in the presence of security agencies to eliminate time wastage.
“This will also stop exporters from adding other products not declared after leaving NAQS premises,” she said, adding that those caught in the past were penalised.
Ubiagoro listed the rest challenges as shortage of manpower and laboratories for efficiency in service, however, she said the agency in the meantime, partners SON and NAFDAC to use their facilities for testing, while recruitment and training is ongoing to increase the staff strength.
To ensure enhanced productivity that would boost export, she said that the NAQS also engages experts to help train farmers and enlighten exporters.