Nigeria: What Nigeria Needs to Woo EU Market - Trade Envoy

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Trade envoy Filippo Amato is the Head of Trade and Economics Section of the European Union Delegation to Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). In this exclusive interview with Daily Trust business team, he clarifies the issues surrounding the recent ban exports ban imposed on Nigeria by the EU. He also looks at EU's interventions and grants to Nigeria and gains recorded.
Why did the EU impose ban on some selected imports from Nigeria?
First of all I would like to clarify that the EU has not banned the import of several agricultural products from Nigeria, as wrongly stated in a number of national newspapers. Although it is true that there are a number of food products (such as melon seeds, dried meat, palm oil) imported from Nigeria that are sometimes rejected at the EU border because they are found to contain dangerous substances for human health, the import suspension measure adopted by the EU only concerns dried beans.
It is actually worrying that wrong information circulates in the national media, as this creates a lot of uncertainty and confusion for exporters of several other goods, which can continue to be exported to the EU provided they comply with the applicable standards.
The reason for the import suspension measure of dried beans is that since January 2013 more than 50 rejections have been recorded at the EU border in relation to this product originating from Nigeria, nearly all of them reporting the presence of the unauthorised pesticide dichlorvos at levels largely exceeding the acute reference dose tentatively established by the European Food Safety Authority.
Only in the first semester of 2015, the UK rejected 10 shipments of dried beans coming from Nigeria for excessive content of this pesticide. This represents a rate of rejections of more than 70 percent of dried beans coming from Nigeria in the last two and a half years. In order to allow the time necessary for Nigeria to provide feedback and to consider the appropriate risk management measures, the suspension of imports of dried beans applies until 30 June 2016.
What is expected from Nigeria for the ban to be lifted and how to prevent a recurrence?
To lift the ban, the Nigerian authorities must provide an export control plan to assure that the beans exported to the EU comply with the EU Minimal Risk Levels for Hazardous Substances. Export control programmes normally include the following elements: control of farmers and certification to Good Agricultural Practice (farmers trained in safe use of pesticides, keeping records of pesticide applications etc.), traceability of exported consignments to certified farmers, and sampling and analysis in accredited laboratories. In particular the residues of the highly toxic pesticide dichlorvos are of concern for the EU.

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