By RICHARD UDOFIA

The National Agricultural Quarantine Services (NAQS) has come up with structures that will ease the procurement of necessary documents for agriculture produce export and import.

Mike Nwaneri, co-coordinating director, NAQS, speaking at a stakeholder meeting in Lagos weekend disclosed that when the new process is fully lunched, stakeholders will need to log onto the service website from the comfort of their homes to process import permits and certificates.

While acknowledging that securing documents at present come with some challenges, he said the service is worried that Nigeria’s export market is facing serious challenges from international trade partners due to some agricultural exports leaving the country with forged certificates.

“These commodities are usually intercepted by importing countries. Exporters have lost millions of dollars through this illegal and unwholesome process. This has been a source of frequent embarrassment to our country. It is hoped that this web based process application will eliminate all these.”

According to him, NAQS focuses on facilitating export just as import, saying “when we ask people to submit the agricultural items they want to export for inspection, screening and certification, they look at it as a means of delaying their business transactions or introducing bottlenecks.

“But the fact is that no country in the world wants pests and diseases to be brought from another country into their country and they would do everything possible to ensure that unless an agricultural item meets their specifications, it is not allowed into their country.”

Apart from the poor image the rejection of food in the international market gives to the exporting country, the exporter also loses a lot of money when the items get destroyed.

Mike Nwaneri disclosed that quarantine bodies globally ensure commodities and materials for exports undergo some form of treatments before they are qualified for certification, adding that they are equally adopting the use of service providers to carry out this function.