By Fatimah Muraina
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The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has called on Nigerians to embrace the windows of opportunity open for them and register their small scale manufacturing businesses with the agency.

The registration, it said will add to the economic development of the country.

The  Coordinator of NAFDAC in Ondo state, Mr. Kenneth Azikiwe made the call in an interview with The Hope in Akure, Ondo state capital.

Azikiwe said manufacturers should avail themselves of the opportunity so that the agency can ascertain the quality of their products and give consumers assurance that the products are safe for consumption.

He said that the agency has a micro and small scale enterprise registration process which allows the registration of a product being manufactured at cottage level such as plantain chips, pop corn and so on.

In his words, “You do not need to get a trade mark to have the CAC registration. What you need to get is the CAC certificate which the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo has reduced  to 5,000 naira flat rates”

He explained that people need to present their CAC certificate and pay a flat rate of 15,750 thousand naira to the agency on the product they have registered for certification.

The certification, Azikiwe further explained, entails visiting the facility site where the product is manufactured to ensure that the agency’s standard is met.

He disclosed that most of the facilities visited across the state were penalised for one thing or another when the agency carried out an enforcement activity in the state.

He also observed that the public has been empowered through the use of what he called Mobile Identification Service for complaint and feedback mechanism on pharmacitical products.

He disclosed that mobile scratch identification had started with the anti- malaria and antibiotic drugs, while other products are under consideration.

He called on the poeple to look out for food products like vegetable oil, sugar, flour and salt which have been fortified with certain vitamins so as to ascertain that they contain the vitamins needed in the body.

To benefit from this development, Azikiwe implored people to always look out for products that have been fortified, or patronise genuine sources to avoid missing out from that advantage.