The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has stated that the recent implementation of the ban on sachet alcoholic drinks was the result of a joint decision. However, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has refuted this assertion.
Director-General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, stated during a news conference on Friday in Lagos that members of the Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria, a MAN sub-sector, had expressed concerns about the intended implementation of the ban on many occasions.
NAFDAC maintained in a statement issued on Thursday that the prohibition—which applies to alcoholic beverages in sachets as well as small-volume PET and glass bottles with capacities under 200 ml—was the result of a group decision.
Mojisola Adeyeye, the Director-General of NAFDAC, stated that the Federal Ministry of Health, NAFDAC, and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission were among the committee members that recommended the ban.
“It’s also critical to make clear that the prohibition on alcohol in sachets, small-volume PET, and glass bottles was not imposed in a hurried manner,” she stated.
“It is compliant with the five-year plan for the phase-out of the impacted alcoholic beverage presentations, which began on January 31, 2024, and ended on January 31, 2019.”
The industry stakeholders were given a five-year timetable that was practicable, reasonable, and long enough to ensure that the manufacture of alcoholic beverages in sachets and small-volume PET and glass bottles with capacities under 200ml would be phased out in full.
Ajayi-Kadir, however, rejected the regulator’s assertion that the choice was made collaboratively.
The Federal Ministry of Health, NAFDAC, the Consumer Protection Commission (now the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission), the Association of Food, Beverages, and Tobacco Employers, and DIBAN signed a Memorandum of Understanding on December 18, 2018, on the condition that certain reservations be made. This was done in order to address the concerns that had been expressed at the time, despite the MAN DG’s earlier objections to the immediate implementation of the ban.
He stated that the intention was to educate the people about responsible consumption by assisting the Federal Ministry of Health and NAFDAC with their public advocacy, messaging, training, and education efforts.
According to Ajayi-Kadir, the effects that the prohibition will have on workers, citizens, manufacturers, and the economy were not properly taken into account.
He argued that the long-term effects of the prohibition, which aimed to deter reckless alcohol drinking, would be negative because smaller serving sizes promote portion management while larger serving sizes encourage larger consumption.
He stated that NAFDAC should step up its efforts and provide support in the form of access control and stricter rules rather than outlawing goods that fall under the designated category.
He stated that NAFDAC should step up its efforts and provide support in the form of access control and stricter rules rather than outlawing goods that fall under the designated category.
This is what the ban will destroy for no good reason, he declared. It has to be said clearly that responsible drinking in moderation is beneficial to health. It’s better to buy small because you’ll only drink a modest amount.
Large purchases will lead to large consumption, which is unhealthy. While smaller sizes promote portion control, larger sizes encourage the consumption of larger portions. Eliminating tiny portions will encourage overindulgence in alcoholic beverages.
“It is unfair to the industry operators and the thousands of workers who will lose their jobs to proceed with the policy based on perceived danger, without empirical information and without minding the consequences, and it is detrimental to the Nigerian economy.”
The MAN DG further urged NAFDAC to support cooperative initiatives aimed at ending underage alcohol consumption and drinking.
Members of the Trade Union Congress, meanwhile, demonstrated on Friday against the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration’s prohibition on sachet alcoholic beverages.
The TUC protested the recently imposed ban in the streets of Obafemi Awolowo Way in Ikeja, Lagos State, together with a few of the impacted companies.
The demonstrators said that the prohibition had made them unemployed and waved posters expressing their complaints.