There are indications that the European Union is considering reversing its ban on the nation’s agricultural produce. The Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service reveals.
The Coordinating Director of the agency, Dr. Vincent Isegbe, gave the hint in Lagos at the opening of a two-day training workshop on plant health inspection and certification of vegetables for exporters and farmers.
Isegbe informed that the EU had promised to reverse the ban if necessary measures were put in place before 2019.
He lamented that the European Union ban on Nigeria’s beans had a crippling effect on the economy, emphasizing the need for Nigeria to avoid such rejection of the Nation’s agricultural commodities in the future.
According to him “We have had issues in the past concerning beans where the European Union suspended Nigeria for three years for beans export. That is not good for us because it means that all the farmers who are producing beans can no more export the quantity that they used to export”.
“The good news is that the EU said if we could put the process in place earlier than 2019, it will reverse its decision. So, that is where we are” he said.
The coordinating director informed that the two-day training was centered on vegetables because it was one of Nigeria’s major export commodities.
He noted that the training became imperative because of the sensitive processes involved in the handling of vegetables, as well as the need to for strict monitoring and certification procedures that would sustain its export, especially at a time the government was stressing the need for diversification of the economy.
“Vegetable is a delicate product and because it is almost ready to eat, it needs more stringent inspection and certification procedures since most times, we eat it fresh” he stated.
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