How To Obtain Global Listing for Supermarket Items

A. GENERAL
1. Individuals intending to obtain a global listing for their products must be operators who must have an established supermarket. Items to be
listed shall include food and cosmetics regulated by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and control(NAFDAC) and sold in supermarkets/stores
and such other specialties as required by Hotels and International Organizations e.g.
Embassies.
2. Products that are already registered shall not be allowed for listing. Such items should be sourced from companies that registered them or 'a letter of no objection'shall be obtained from the company that registered the product.
3.Product that are on the prohibition list shall not be allowed for listing.
4. For small and medium supermarket operators, the quantity of each item to be imported shall
not exceed 100 cartons of 100 units (maximum) per shipment and shall not exceed 2500
cartons in total per annum.
5. Supermarket operators shall only distribute to own supermarket chains.
6. Supermarket operator shall register TWO (2) products per 100 items imported.
9. Food items that require mandatory fortification shall not be allowed, i.e. table salt, sugar,
flour, vegetable oil except they have been fortified to the levels prescribed in the Food Grade
(Table or Cooking) Salt Regulations and the Food Fortification with Vitamin A Regulations.
Note: Refined vegetable oil is currently banned.
10. Supermarket operators shall be categorized as follows:
Category Small Medium Large Mega
No. of items Up to 500 501 to 2,500 2,501 to 5000 5001 & above
Qty. of items for importation per annum

Food items are required to be fortified with micro nutrients as follows:
1. Sugar Vitamin A 25,000 iu/kg
2. Wheat/Maize Flour Vitamin A 30,000iu/kg and iron 40.7mg/kg

3. Vegetable oil Vitamin A 20,000 iu/kg
4. Salt Iodine (in the form of Sodium
or Potassium Iodate)
50ppm(min level of iodine at factory/port
of entry) and 30ppm(min level of iodine at
all retail outlets/house hold)
B. DOCUMENTATION
1 An application for the listing of supermarket items shall be made with three (3) copies of
inventory of products to be imported for the year stating the following
(a) Name/Description of product
(b) Brand of product
(c) Origin of product
(d) Units/Pack e.g. 10 X 125g
(e) Pack type e.g. can, sachet, bottle
(f) Number of cartons (per item, per shipment)
2 The application shall be accompanied with the following:
(a) Duly completed Listing Form, “NAFDAC/1005”
(b) Certificate of Analysis for each product shall be made available (where
applicable) from the manufacturer or a Government approved analyst from
country of origin.
(c) Certificate of Business Incorporation in Nigeria and Form C07
(d) Receipt for Application Form purchased
(e) Introduction Letter/Confirmation of Membership from National Association
of Supermarket Operators of Nigeria (NASON) (Optional).
C. ESTABLISHMENT INSPECTION
1. Supermarkets/stores shall be inspected by the Establishment Inspection Directorate of NAFDAC
upon submission of an application form and evidence of payment. .
2. Health and Hygiene MUST be maintained.
3. A register of stock shall be maintained
4. No expired goods should be displayed or sold
5. Register of expired products should be kept
6. Register of destroyed unwholesome/expired product should be kept
7. Food items should be displayed away from toiletries and chemical based items
8. Pet food must be displayed separately and should be isolated from any other
foodstuff.
9. Right temperature should be maintained, while storing/displaying chilled and frozen
items and such records shall be kept
10. Food handlers must be medically examined and fitness certificate should be obtained
every six months from a medical practitioner.
11. Food handlers associated with bakery and fresh products must have their hair
covered. They must wear appropriate clothing no jewellery.
12. There shall be standard operating procedures (SOPs) for cleaning premises and
equipment.
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13. Pesticides and disinfectants used for fumigation and cleaning should be appropriate
and safe for humans.
D. TARIFF
The relevant payment for the listing based on the number of items to be imported in the year shall be paid to NAFDAC
E. LABELING
1 Labeling shall comply with Codex Standards for food products and with international
requirements for cosmetic products.
2 Any product labeled in a foreign language (except those for embassies) shall NOT be
considered for listing unless an English translation is included on the label and package
insert.
F. SAMPLING
1 Operator shall submit to Ports Inspection Directorate of NAFDAC an advance list of items per shipment as approved by the Registration Directorate.
2 Port Inspection Directorate shall randomly sample products for analysis.
3 Consignments will be released to the importer after physical inspection and sampling.
4 Physical inspection fee shall be charged per consignment not per container and shall be as determined by the Agency.
i) Sampled items shall be put on hold for 14 days awaiting laboratory results, after
which the goods may be sold.
ii) Sample of one (1) product shall be taken per 20ft container and fifty thousand naira
only (=N=50,000:00) + 5% VAT for laboratory analysis.
iii) Samples of two (2) products shall be taken per 40ft container and one hundred
thousand naira (=N=100,000:00) + 5% VAT for laboratory analysis.
G. The time line for processing is ten (10) work days.

NAFDAC Shuts Down Milk Packaging Company

NAFDAC has shut down a Lagos based milk packaging company Rofico limited to commence investigations on the speculated presence of expired milk in the markets.The Agency in press release stated that the company had to be shut following the discovery of quantities of expired milk products in excess of what the agency had earlier placed on 'Hold'.The company was also reported to have breached the procedure for the destruction of expired products.Recent media reports have also indicated that company's expired milk products have been served to school children in Ekiti State in South West Nigeria.

About NAFDAC: NAFDAC is the regulatory Agency responsible for the safety of food,drug and medical products in Nigeria.

Before Your Next Pack of Cube Sugar

Nigerian consumers may have out of ignorance been consuming the wrong type of cube sugar that is not fortified with vitamin A .The World Health Organisation recommends that certain food item are fortified with micronutrients such as vitamin A, iron and iodine in order to reduce the level of disease burden and disorders linked with the deficiency of these micronutrients and minerals. Nigeria has also adopted this recommendations and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has also issued certain guidelines for the fortification of food items. The agency requires that sugar should be fortified with vitamin A to the ratio of 25,000 IU per kilogram of sugar. Other food items that require fortification include wheat and maize flour with a requirement of vitamin A to the ratio of 30,000 IU per kilogram, and iron with the ratio of 40.7 milligram per kilogram. Fortification of vegetable oil with vitamin A is required at 20,000 IU per kilogram while salt should be fortified with iodine in form of potassium iodide at the ratio of 50 parts per million at factory level and at ports of entry, while 30 parts per million is the standard at retail stores and homes. Deficiencies of these micronutrients lead to conditions such as knock knees and goitre and night blindness.
Despite the above regulatory requirements, recent reports indicate that there is an availability of unfortified cube sugar in the Nigerian markets, supermarkets.
Consumers are advised to always watch out for the fortification logo on these products. Products fortified with vitamin A can be identified with the 'A' placed in a drawing of an eye as depicted in the pictures below.



Sugar with fortification logo














Sugar without the fortification logo

NAFDAC Takes Truscan to Port Harcourt

The Nigerian food and drug regulatory agency conducted a surveillance of pharmaceutical products in Port Harcourt the capital of Rivers State in the oil rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria using the Truscan device which is capable of detecting if a drug is fake or genuine on the spot. The surveillance which was carried out in company of the media is the second leg of the nationwide surveillance which had earlier been carried out in Kano, Kaduna, Abuja, Lagos and Onitsha. Over 40 pharmacies and patent medicine shops were visited in the Port Harcourt metropolis. The survey indicated a high level of compliance in pharmacy shops in high brow area of the metropolis whereas up to 60 percent of drug products tested in patent medicine stores in areas such as miles 1,2 and 3 failed the Truscan test. Drug products categories that failed the test include antibiotics and antimalarial drugs among which are ampiclox capsules, maloxine tablets, augmentin tablets, fansidar tablets artesunate tablets, malareich, lornat tablets etc. Products discovered to fail the Truscan test have been withdrawn by the Agency for further laboratory analysis. Nigeria is the first African country and among the first six countries in the world to deploy the Truscan device to detect fake drugs.

One Hundred Million Naira Worth of Fake Drugs Intercepted in Lagos

Luck ran out of smugglers of suspected fake drugs as enforcement officers of Nigeria food and drug regulatory authority the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) intercepted a trailer load of the suspected fake products on Easter weekend. Acting on an intelligence report, the officers raided a trailer park at Okokomaiko a Lagos suburb where the trailer was intercepted at mid-night on Good Friday. Some of the medicines discovered include fulcin tablet, felvin capsule a brand of piroxicam, amatem and ACT anti-malarial, chloramphenicol capsule and ferrous sulphate tablet which is on the product inhibition list and eye antioxidant capsule. Addressing a press conference in Lagos, the Agency’s Director General Dr Paul Orhi stated that the products which are valued at One Hundred Million Nigerian Naira have been evacuated to the agency's warehouse and two agents responsible for smuggling the products into the country have been arrested for further interrogation

NAFDAC Closes Osun State Office

The Nigerian food and drug regulatory agency(NAFDAC) has closed it's office at Osun state, South Western Nigeria following a recent incident where staff of the agency on routine assignment at a bakery in Oshogbo the State capital were attacked and nearly lynched. The bakery named Afolabi bakery was discovered to be using potassium bromate a cancer causing substance as bread improver. The Agency explained that the state office is being closed over the security of it's personel. Meanwhile Afolabi bakery has been shut down pending investigations by the local police.

Interception of trailers at a trailer park in Lagos