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The Senate has urged the Federal Government and regulatory agencies to stop any further extension of the deadline for phasing out alcoholic beverages packaged in sachet formats.
The resolution followed a motion by Asuquo Ekpenyong titled, “Motion on the Need to Halt Further Extension of the Phase-Out of Alcoholic Beverages Packaged in Sachet Formats.”
Presenting the motion, Ekpenyong noted that “in line with global regulatory standards and international best practices, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), following collaborative consultations with industry and regulatory stakeholders, announced a phased ban on the importation, manufacture, and distribution of alcoholic beverages packaged in sachet formats.”
He recalled that in 2018, stakeholders, including the Federal Ministry of Health, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), NAFDAC, and industry bodies namely; the Association of Food, Beverage & Tobacco Employers and the Distillers & Blenders Association of Nigeria, “voluntarily signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) committing to the gradual phase-out of the production and sale of these high-strength alcoholic beverages in these packaging formats due to growing public health concerns over their affordability, portability, easy accessibility, and increasing consumption and abuse among children, adolescents, commercial vehicle drivers, and other vulnerable groups.”
Ekpenyong added that “the Federal Government, upon appeal from industry players, granted an additional one-year moratorium in 2024 to enable manufacturers to exhaust existing stock, adjust production lines, and explore compliant packaging alternatives until December 2025, notwithstanding the clear provisions of the MoU and the subsequent directive issued by NAFDAC prohibiting the practice.”
He expressed concern that “as the deadline of December 2025 approaches, some manufacturers continue to lobby for another extension, thereby undermining regulatory authority, jeopardising public health, and potentially encouraging prolonged proliferation and circulation of these products in harmful sachet packaging formats in our communities.”
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The lawmaker further lamented that “certain manufacturers who complied in good faith now suffer competitive disadvantages against those who continue to produce and distribute non-compliant formats, creating a distorted market environment and disincentivizing responsible industry behaviour.”
According to him, “excessive youth exposure to cheap, high-alcohol-content products packaged in sachets contributes to addiction, impaired cognitive development, increased school dropout rates, road accidents, domestic violence, and other social vices.”
He warned that “pushing this moratorium further will impede the full enforcement of the extant powers and responsibilities of NAFDAC as the statutorily empowered regulator in Section 5 and Section 31 of its enabling statute, and also undermine ideals of a fitting National Alcohol Policy thereby weakening Nigeria’s standing as a responsible member of the global community committed to the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations on alcohol harm reduction.”
The motion further noted that “the continued delays in the enforcement of the prohibition will further saturate the market with high-strength alcoholic products packaged in sachet formats already flagged as harmful, undermining years of regulatory efforts, public education, and progressive voluntary compliance.”
After deliberations, the Senate resolved to “mandate and direct NAFDAC and relevant regulatory agencies not to grant any further extension to the moratorium scheduled to lapse in December 2025 and to immediately ensure strict enforcement of the ban and prohibition of packaging high-strength alcohol in sachet formats in all parts of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from December 2025 without delay.”
It also resolved to “mandate the Federal Ministry of Health to ensure that there are no impediments to the ability of NAFDAC to enforce the prohibition of the packaging of alcoholic products in sachet formats in any part of Nigeria.”
Additionally, the Senate called on the Federal Ministry of Health “to expedite the conclusion and public release of the National Alcohol Policy that contains a clear and unequivocal prohibition of the packaging of high-strength alcoholic products in sachet formats and to support NAFDAC in providing a holistic direction for enforcement and public sensitization.”
The Red chamber further directed the National Orientation Agency (NOA) “to intensify nationwide sensitization campaigns on the dangers of high-alcohol-content beverages among youths and school-aged children and to discourage the packaging and consumption of these products in sachet formats.”
