By Progress Godfrey

ABUJA – The Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) have stepped up efforts to strengthen oversight of pharmaceuticals, food and consumables produced in Nigeria’s free trade zones, following growing concerns over the spread of fake and substandard products in the market.

This followed a meeting in Abuja between NAFDAC Director-General Mojisola Adeyeye and NEPZA Managing Director Olufemi Ogunyemi, where both agencies agreed to deepen collaboration and strengthen regulatory monitoring within the zones.

According to a statement by NEPZA on Thursday, the NAFDAC DG, Adeyeye said the engagement was aimed at reinforcing institutional cooperation to enable more effective regulation of the importation, exportation, production and distribution of regulated products within the zones.

“I wish to, on behalf of my team of directors, express our appreciation to you, Dr. Olufemi Ogunyemi, the Managing Director/CEO of NEPZA, and your team for this kind gesture in welcoming us.

“Let me, however, state that we must view this meeting as a responsibility we have to the country to protect citizens from fake drugs and consumables that are infiltrating our markets from known and unknown destinations.

“NAFDAC has always insisted on conducting appropriate tests and ensuring compliance with the standard specifications designated and approved by the council to effectively control the quality of regulated products across the relevant industries in Nigeria,” she said.

The NAFDAC boss stressed that the free trade zone scheme remains critical to Nigeria’s industrialisation agenda but requires stronger monitoring frameworks to safeguard product quality.

She added that joint regulatory action would be key to closing existing compliance gaps through improved inspection and facility management across production lines.

Ogunyemi, in his response, said NEPZA was committed to eliminating irregularities linked to the production and movement of pharmaceuticals and consumables within the zones.

He described the free trade zone scheme as a major economic gateway, noting that Nigeria currently operates 63 zones hosting more than 900 enterprises.

According to him, “We need a joint effort to address some of the irregularities. We will allow NAFDAC to perform its regulatory functions because the public’s health depends on it.

“NEPZA has always been at the vanguard of disallowing the zones to be used as blind spots for illicit activities.We fully endorse this partnership and collaboration, which has the potential to enhance the scheme’s global compliance across all production and export activities for the benefit of the country.”

Both agencies set up an eight-member technical committee to identify enforcement bottlenecks and recommend measures to strengthen coordination, compliance and quality assurance across the zones.