Nigeria has warned that it would not become a dumping ground for agro products from other African nations.
The West African nation has said that it would not fails to introduce quarantine checks at all its airports as the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement peaks.
The AfCFTA Nigeria office and the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service, both agencies of the Federal Government, warned that the seeming absence of quarantine checks at some points of entry into the country would lead to the infiltration of unwholesome products.
The agencies noted that for the AfCFTA to succeed in Nigeria, the adequate screening of agro-produce, which formed the bulk of the imports and exports, must be taken seriously.
The AfCFTA came into force on January 1, 2021 and Nigeria has been making moves to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the continental trade programme.
The Director-General, NAQS, Vincent Isegbe, said: “For AfCFTA to be successful, the quarantine service must necessarily be at all the entry and exit points across the country.
“Nigeria has about 205 million people, that market is massive and is going to attract the entire African nations because they want to sell. So if the quarantine service is not there to checkmate what is coming in, Nigeria will become a dumping ground for those commodities.”
