Customs Beams Searchlight On Bonded Terminals...Bans Clearing Of Pharmaceutical Products From Bonded Terminals

 ...Hands over 25 Containers of Pharmaceutical Products to NAFADAC

The Nigeria Customs Services (NCS), has announced the end of rerouting of containers of pharmaceuticals products to bonded terminals

This was announced by the Comptroller General of Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR during the handing over of 25 containers of seized pharmaceutical products at the Apapa Area Command to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration (NAFDAC) on Friday.

The CGC disclosed that this decision was necessitated due to the violation of trade regulations by some bonded terminals. He further explained that  henceforth, every pharmaceutical product will be cleared only in designated ports of Apapa (right inside the port),  PTML, Onne Ports and International Airport to ensure proper monitoring of these products in order to safeqaurd the health of the citizenry from the menace of use of fake and unregistered drugs and also to check fraudulent activities that are being perpetrated in some of the bonded terminals.

The Comptroller General also revealed that some of the bonded terminals and companies are currently under investigations, he added that about N1.5bn has been recovered from one of the bonded terminals under suspension while another N1.6bn is expected to be recovered from another bonded terminal operator before the end of the this month.

Adeniyi also stated that the Customs Service plans to review the licensing fees paid by the bonded terminals according to him, this will make it possible for only those who are serious are allowed to operate.

Speaking on the 25 containers of  counterfeit medications, unregistered pharmaceutical products and prohibited substances to be handed over to the NDLEA, the CGC said they comprises of 21 x 40ft containers of fake and unregistered pharmaceuticals products and 4 x 20ft laden with expired food products and chocolate all with an aggregate Duty Paid Value (DPV) of #9,235,402,973.00 (Nine Billion, two hundred and thirty five million, four hundred and two thousand nine hundred and seventy three naira).

A breakdown of the containers, containing predominantly unregistered pharmaceutical products, sexual enhancement drugs such as REDSON and Hyegra sildenafil citrate injections like oxytetracycline and artesunate, pain relief medications containing Diclofenac sodium and paracetamol, skin lightening creams marketing as Gbogbonise and Skin Chemist, hip and breast enlargement products and various tablets bearing fake NAFDAC numbers and a host of other contraband products that poses significant threats to public health, co sumer safety and regulatory integrity.

Commending the Director General of NDLEA and her team, the CGC said, "the operational synergy developed with NAFDAC reflects strategic collaboration at its finest with the DG NDLEA providing critical intelligence even at midnight about suspicious importations that proves decisive to the anti-smuggling operations which have facilitated coordination of swift responses to emerging threats".

Continuing the CGC said, He said the two agencies remains uncompromisingly committed to the battle against merchants of death who pursue illicit profits from businesses that destroy lives and communities.

According to him, joint operations under the coordination of the Office of the National Security Adviser has recorded seizures of 200 containers followed by coordinated destruction exercises.

The items were unregistered pharmaceutitcal products comprising 63.7 percent of seizure values, highlighting the scale of threats that could have inflicted devastating damage on human lives and our social ecosystem if permitted to infiltrate the markets, he said.

He warned, “where it is discovered that haulage operators, bonded terminal owners or any other trade facilitators are complicit in there illegal activities, such persons or companies will face the full wrought of the law. Our intelligence network and technological capabilities have been significantly enhanced to detect and intercept prohibited items regardless of concealment method or documentation subterfuge”

The Customs Area Controller of Apapa Command, Comptroller Babatunde Olomu appreciated the support given to his command by the CGC, stating that 2 of the container were seized following intelligence report from the CGC himself who monitored the movement of the containers from outside the shores of Nigeria.