The Coordinating Director, Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), Dr Vincent Isegbe, said it is quite unfortunate that The European Union (EU) has extended its ban on importation of dried beans from Nigeria by three years. This means that nobody will be allow to EXPORT Beans for the next three years except something is done urgently.
Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), yesterday, Dr Ishegbe lamented that the extension came when the federal government and its relevant agencies were working to ensure that the June dateline to lift the ban was met. you will remember that EU banned importation of Nigeria’s dried beans in June 2015 on ground that the produce contains high level of pesticide considered dangerous to human health.
Nigeria was accused of not doing enough to lift the ban during the period of suspension by the EU. “The continued presence of dichlorvos (pesticide) in dried beans imported from Nigeria and maximum residue levels of pesticides shows that compliance with food law requirement as regards pesticide residual cannot be achieved in the short term,” Isegbe said, reading from an EU journal.
“The duration of the importation prohibition should, therefore, be extended for an additional period of three years to allow Nigeria implement the appropriate risk-management measure and provide required guarantees.”
He said that the extension should serve as an opportunity for stakeholders to correct the mistake.
Isegbe called for the sensitization of stakeholders, especially farmers, on corrective measures to avoid such future embarrassment.
However, I think we should think of exporting something else while Beans is banned. More so, I felt the farmers still have a lot to do. Although, this might not be the faults of the farmers as they may not have access to the necessary machinery.
this is indeed a bad news for those who know nothing aside from dried beans exportation; that is why we all need to learn the bases of every business in case of diversification. I hope you get what am saying?