By Deborah Nnamdi
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has shut down a Chinese supermarket in Wuse 2, Abuja, over allegations of selling expired products and goods labeled in Chinese without English translations, violating NAFDAC regulations.
The supermarket, located at Azba Mall, 2 Durban Street, is owned and managed by Chinese nationals who claimed they were in the process of obtaining NAFDAC licensing and translating product labels into English as required by law.
Leader of NAFDAC’s enforcement team, Shaba Mohammed, revealed that the agency acted on credible intelligence about regulatory violations at the supermarket, “We conducted due diligence to verify the claims,” he said.
He confirmed that investigations would continue to determine how such products entered the country in commercial quantities, bypassing labeling requirements and without being intercepted at the point of entry.
He added that NAFDAC would also inspect the warehouse storing the supermarket’s goods, noting that 90 percent of the items on display were labeled exclusively in Chinese.
Mohammed emphasized that the agency’s action was aimed at preventing the sale of such items to the public, ensuring the safety and well-being of consumers.
“Selling items labeled in foreign languages in Nigeria is a violation of our law.
“If you must sell anything labeled in either Arabic, Chinese, or Indian language, then you must have the English translation of it.
“What we found there, more than 90 percent of them are actually in Chinese Language, and you also find some Nigerians patronizing the supermarket.
“So, how are they able to read what they have bought? Not only that, when you look at the date markings, some of the items have expired and they are still on the shelves.
“Even if NAFDAC gave them Global Listing to import the items, the labeling ought to have been in the English Language.
“So, they can’t present to us any document from NAFDAC for which the items are in a foreign language. That is not acceptable. So, that is why we have to seal off the supermarket.
“We have to invite them and do a thorough investigation before we conclude the case. You can’t be here and then you just bring in anything. No, it doesn’t happen.
“You can’t have any country in a country,” Mohammed noted.
