NIGERIA’S fledgling food export business was dealt a serious blow last year when the EU put a ban on beans imports – after over four times the acceptable amount of pesticide residue was detected.
This comes after a previous ban on melon seeds for unacceptable levels of aflatoxin.
The EU placed this sanction because within two years, more than 50 shipments from Nigeria were rejected at the EU border.
The temporary ban which was meant to be lifted in June 2016 was extended by an additional three years for failure by the Nigerian government to set up systems that will guarantee such problems do not reoccur.
The impact of this was not only huge revenue losses for the nation, but a ruined reputation internationally for other exported commodities.
