Business
Nigeria To Enforce Safety Code On Dangerous Goods
The Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) says the country was set to implement safety code on dangerous goods to enhance safety in the nation’s marine environment.
NIMASA’s Director of Operations, Mr Rotimi Fashakin said this last Friday during a technical session for port users on the Implementation of International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code organised by NIMASA in Lagos.
He said that the indiscriminate dumping of dangerous goods in the marine environment had been a growing concern and a threat to human health and the environment.
He said that the IMDG code was a convention under the auspices of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to which Nigeria is a signatory.
He recalled the negative effect that the dumping into Koko Port in Delta in 1988 of 18,000 barrels of hazardous waste from Italy and recent similar cases had caused the area.
He said that there was the need to pay special attention to the negative effects that dumping of dangerous goods in the environments could cause the residents.
”The special requirements in the transportation of IMDG is to eliminate or minimise the risk of injury to people.
“Over the years, the maritime sector in many countries had taken measures to regulate the transportation of dangerous drugs through identification, labelling and stowage of such goods,” Fashakin said.
He said that the measure for international regulation on transporting dangerous goods was ratified by the 1929 International Conference on Safety of Life at Sea and adopted in the 1948 Conference.
He added that the usefulness of most IMDG , especially, to industries had made them inalienable from man hence the desire for them.
“This session is, therefore, part of Nigeria’s readiness to effectively perform its statutory responsibilities of implementing the IMDG Code on transporting dangerous goods in order to guarantee the health of its citizens,” he said.
Also, NIMASA’s Head of Marine Environment Management Department, Dr Felicia Mogo, who facilitated the session said that the code was meant to enhance the safe carriage of dangerous goods.
Business
NAFDAC Decries Circulation Of Prohibited Food Items In markets …….Orders Vendors’ Immediate Cessation Of Dealings With Products
Importers, market traders, and supermarket operators have therefore, been directed to immediately cease all dealings in these items and to notify their supply chain partners to halt transactions involving prohibited products.
The agency emphasized that failure to comply will attract strict enforcement measures, including seizure and destruction of goods, suspension or revocation of operational licences, and prosecution under relevant laws.
The statement said “The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raised an alarm over the growing incidence of smuggling, sale, and distribution of regulated food products such as pasta, noodles, sugar, and tomato paste currently found in markets across the country.
“These products are expressly listed on the Federal Government’s Customs Prohibition List and are not permitted for importation”.
NAFDAC also called on other government bodies, including the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service(NIS) Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Shippers Council, and the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), to collaborate in enforcing the ban on these unsafe products.
