Ten packaged water enterprises in Ondo State have been sealed by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) due to non-compliance with the rules and requirements.
This information was provided in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Akure by Mr. Benu Philip, the NAFDAC State Coordinator for Ondo.
According to Philip, the impacted businesses, which are dispersed around the state, had their locations blocked between January and June.
He clarified that all of the impacted businesses were manufacturing in an unsanitary atmosphere and using licenses that had expired.
“In addition to locking the facilities, the companies will pay an administrative charge for late renewal of their registration licence and submit necessary documents for the renewal process,” he said
The license granted is not permanent, according to Philip, who added that renewal intervals should be maintained to prevent regulatory pause.
He encouraged Nigerians to constantly check sachet and bottled water for the NAFDAC registration number, batch information, and date marks.
“Our mandate, specifically, is to ensure, regulate and control the manufacturing of food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices and chemicals, which we refer to as regulated products.
“What we do in Ondo State majorly is to engage the stakeholders to keep them abreast of our mandate, to ensure that they follow the rules.
“Most of the packaged water, popularly called “pure water”, that I know of in Ondo State since I came on board, have been operating with expired licence.
“The licence is the marketing authorisation that enables you to sell your product in the market as verified and safe for consumption.
“Once you have that number on your certificate, it shows that you have gone through the regulatory processes to ensure that you make safe products to the consuming public but it is not forever; it has a timeline,” he said.
He said the agency will continue to collaborate with other agencies to ensure its set goals and targets were achieved.
