Govt to Ban Tomato Paste Imports

The Federal Government will soon ban importation of foreign tomato pastes into the country, the minister of agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh has said.

Ogbeh said based on a report by the National Agency for Food and Administration and Control (NAFDAC), foreign tomato pastes imported into Nigeria are not good.

He spoke during the oversight visit of the House of Representatives Committee on Agricultural Production and Services, chaired by Rep Mohammed Tahir Monguno (APC, Borno) to the ministry yesterday in Abuja.

“The Chinese are the ones messing us up on tomato paste. Each time Dangote tries to produce, they lower their prices. There’s a report by NAFDAC on the quality of foreign tomato pastes. The report is very bad.

“We think we have every reason in that report to ban foreign tomato pastes into the country. If you don’t ban it on health ground, you have to ban it on any other ground,” he said.

When members of the committee demanded to know the measures government was taking to avert food crisis next year in view of the influx of foreigners buying Nigerian grains, the minister said “It’s time to fill our silos.

“The export is huge now, but if you stop it, farmers will get very angry. When you go round, they tell you they get so rich now. But if you stop it and the prices fall, you discourage farmers. We’re in the market now buying and storing.”