Don’t Obstruct Our Official Operations, NAFDAC Tells Pharm. Mfg Coys In Enugu,
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has called on manufacturers, shop owners of foods, cosmetics, drugs and medical devices to cooperate with officials of the agency who are on surveillance duties.
Mr Martins Iluyomade, Director of NAFDAC, Southeast Zonal office made the call during a Stakeholders’ Engagement Forum in Enugu.
The 2-Day forum had pharmaceuticals stakeholders in the zone in attendance.
Iluyomade said NAFDAC officials were powered by the Act to enter any manufacturing or businesses premises any time without warrant search.
He said anybody who impedes or obstructs the course of officials’ statutory duties was liable to conviction.
“The law gives the provision that any proceed made from the sale of unregistered product will be forfeited to the Federal Government,” he said.
On her part, Mrs Victoria Akudu, Servicom Officer, said Servicom was about service delivery and customer satisfaction.
Akudu said service by the agency must be timely, transparent and have quality.
“Servicom only protect you when you do the right thing. When a process is taking time unduly or when you are not satisfied with the services, Servicom comes in,” she said.
Mrs Ogechi Ude, who spoke on Post Marketing Surveillance, the Principal Regulatory Officer of NAFDAC said it was the regulatory function of the Agency which involved assessment of the quality of all NAFDAC regulated products throughout their shelf life.
Ude urged the stakeholders in the food, drug and cosmetics etc to source and buy registered products, adding that they should train their workers to always look out for products which were close to their expiration date.
In a reaction, one of the stakeholders, Mr Emmanuel Eze described the interaction as healthy and called on NAFDAC to hold such a programme on a biennial basis.