The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has opted to invite Oriental Supermarket’s management for questioning rather than making arrests, despite sealing it for selling expired products and items to consumers.
Oriental Supermarket, located in Azba Mall on Durban Street, Abuja, is owned by Chinese nationals. During an inspection, NAFDAC officials discovered that over 90% of the products on display had labels exclusively in Chinese, making it impossible for Nigerian consumers to understand their content without a good translation medium.
In a statement shared on its social media platforms on Tuesday, NAFDAC explained, “Products sold with labels in foreign languages without English translations do not comply with NAFDAC labelling guidelines and are illegal.
“We have invited the supermarket’s management for further investigation.”
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The agency disclosed that it was investigating how the expired and improperly labelled products entered the country. It stated that it had expanded the probe to the supermarket’s warehouse.
According to NAFDAC’s statement, the management of the supermarket claimed they were working on obtaining NAFDAC approvals and translating product labels.
The Counterfeit and Fake Drugs (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act forbids the sale of expired products in Nigeria. According to the Act, selling unwholesome products attracts penalties including a fine worth N500,000 or imprisonment of not less than five years.
FIJ understands that NAFDAC mandates stores to report expired, damaged or unsafe products for destruction. The agency then inspects and supervises the destruction process to ensure public health standards are met.
The process for doing this is spelt out in the agency’s Guidelines for Destroying Unwholesome Products document.
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Beyond the possible violation of the Counterfeit and Fake Drugs (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, the supermarket’s product catalogue violates the NAFDAC Drug and Related Products Labelling Regulation.
This law mandates that drugs, food and other related products in Nigeria must be presented in English, and may include other languages. Under the provisions of these regulations, anyone found guilty of contravening their terms faces penalties upon conviction.
For individuals, the punishment includes imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of up to N50,000, or both imprisonment and a fine. For corporate entities, the fine can reach up to N100,000.
NAFDAC is empowered by the law to carry out arrests in cases involving violations of the Food and Drugs Act.
The post Chinese-Owned Oriental Supermarket Sold Expired Goods to Nigerians. NAFDAC Chose to ‘Invite’ Them for Questioning appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.