The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Tuesday disclosed that the ban on alcohol packed in sachets has been pre-agreed with it’s makers since December 2018.
The agency also said the alcoholic content in sachet or polyethene terephthalate (PET) bottles less than 200ml is 30 percent, emphasizing a ban on them to protect children.
In comparison, the agency however noted that the alcoholic content in beer is 4-8 percent.
The agency stated that it did not ban alcohol production in bigger bottles, but only banned alcohol in containers or packing that a child can easily conceal.
In a statement on Tuesday signed by Sayo Akintola, the NAFDAC resident media consultant, the agency insists that the ban is a decision involving stakeholders.
“The Association of Food, Beverage & Tobacco Employers (AFBTE) and Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria (DIBAN) signed an agreement with MOH and NAFDAC and FCCPC in 2018 December that they will phase out production of alcohol in sachet and PET bottles less than 200ml by January 31, 2024.
“The agreement document is available. A five year phase out notice should be sufficient”, the statement read.
The agency added that Nigeria was one of the 193 Member States of the World Health Organisation that reached an historical consensus on a global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol by adopted resolution WHA63.13 at the Sixty-third session of the World Health Assembly, held in Geneva in 2010.
“This was seven years before my time (Mojisola Adeyeye), an agreement signed by Nigeria with other nations that we will protect youth by making alcohol not easily reachable and accessible”, the statement read.
