The Chief Executive Officer of Katchey Laboratories, Kate Isa has said for Nigeria to reverse the gale of rejection facing its exported agro-products in the global market and compete competitively, the country must ensure that its farmers and farm products meet the relevant certification of receiving countries.
The company which has over 33 years expertise in certification of laboratories across the country continues to provide companies with complex research, testing, quality control and compliance solutions that help avoid risks and maintain standards for production inputs, and market bound outputs.
Speaking at the company’s office in Lagos during a facility tour of its laboratory by the Aviacargo Road Map Committee, she said concerned regulatory agencies should set the required standard in the country and ensure farmers and their farms are accredited before they can grow produce for export.
Mrs. Isa explained that for the country to achieve the desired results, everyone involved in the system must not compromise and adhere to these standards in order to come up with wholesome produce/products.
She said: “November last year when fidelity took a team out to try and find export market for Nigeria, I spoke with Wanis, a leading UK food distribution chain and they told me that they used to import a lot of things from Nigeria. They will pay the supplier and when the containers get to the port in London, it will be held there, no matter the certificate that accompanied it, until they run their own test. If it passes, then they let it go.
“The company had to pay demurrage and for the UK test. Because this was increasing their cost, they stopped buying from Nigeria. Instead, they went to Ghana, Benin Republic and other parts of Africa where things work, because the African market is booming”.
While noting the importance of what the committee is doing, she stated that Katchey is passionate about making Nigeria the African export hub with zero product rejection, using cutting-edge technology.
“We saw the gap in the African continental trade, that there is nobody in the private analytical lab sector and want to exploit it. If we are not prepared and ready, we (Nigeria) will miss that opportunity, seeing that Nigeria’s oil production has further fallen, according to OPEC.
“What the committee is doing is very important and urgent to make sure we can export and there are no rejections. Because if we don’t export, then we are finished. There is no oil; we have to export, and without rejection.
“Exporters must ensure that their produce are up to the required standard. When the customer tells us the country of destination, we analyse and compare with the specification of that country. If it doesn’t meet their standard, then we let you know it cannot go, so that when we eventually certify your product, it won’t be rejected”.
“We also have full analytical lab that is internationally accredited by ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB). ANAB is one of the world accrediting bodies. we went abroad to get accredited because there is a cloud of corruption that hangs over Nigeria. So, whatever you bring from here as a certificate is queries outside. We find that exporters of goods from Nigeria are usually rejected after a second test is conducted by the receiving country. If the products are found wanting in certification, they are outrightly rejected.
“We ready to partner with various organizations in Nigeria that are interested in exporting, in making Nigeria that competitive, in making Nigeria relevant to make sure that the basics are covered. We are supposed to test the samples to see that the standards are met. That in your manufacturing, production and the processes, you have followed the right pathway and you have indeed produced the product that is wholesome. And when ANAB accredited lab like ours certify a product, nobody can reject it anywhere in the world. If they do we take them on and ANAB take them on as well. ANAB audits us regularly to make sure that our processes, procedures and equipment and everything up to date.”
She advised that Nigerian agro-product exporters must have dedicated vehicles that only handles food produce and not mix them with other goods to avoid contamination.
Also speaking during the facility tour, Coordinator of the Aviacargo Road Map Committee, Mr. Ikechi Uko, said the objective of the facility tour is to understand the export process and the journey of the produce/product from the farm to the aircraft, which will help in the formulation of an all-encompassing document to drive the sector forward.
He said part of why the government set up the team is to find solutions to the problems bedeviling the sector, as well as to improve and instill standards.
He bemoaned the low acceptability of Nigeria’s farm produce abroad, despite being a leader in the production of so many commodities with available markets, adding that Nigeria wants to be the number one exporting African country in the next three years.
His words: “Nigeria is the biggest economy with the largest population, but it is number five in aviacargo in Africa. Kenya is number one even though it doesn’t have the largest economy, population, airlines or airport. What are they doing right in Kenya? So we are trying to understand why we are number five, why we should be number one, and how to get there. We want to be number one in the next three years.
“We’ve done the airport assessment, we’ve seen NAHCO, SAHCO, and the cargo processes. Aside the logistics problems, there are issues with the products/produce, one of which is rejection abroad and ban from exportation of many things.
“The journey of the produce from the farm to the table has to pass through some places and we found out that there is a gap, which is in the labs, as the products need to pass through a lab. So, where are the labs that are supposed to certify them? Why do we have to take our products to Ghana to export? We decided to find out what the labs actually do, in order to institute them as part of the report we will give to the government, stating the necessity.
