Worried by the increasing cases of suicide in the country, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has announced the ban on the sale of Sniper and other brands of agricultural formulations of Dichlorvos. The directive was issued by the Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Moji Adeyeye, in a statement made available to the press.
Adeyeye said from September 1st, 2019, Sniper and other related products would not be sold in supermarkets and in the open markets. The NAFDAC boss said such products should only be used for outdoor purposes and not private homes.
The statement read in part, “NAFDAC is giving a two-month (up to August 31, 2019) notice to brand owners/distributors to recall and withdraw their products from open markets and supermarkets that do not have garden corner/shelves to the agro-dealer outlets.
“The sale of Sniper insecticide and other Dichlorvos brands in open markets and supermarkets nationwide is prohibited with effect from September 1, 2019.
NAFDAC is giving a six-month moratorium up to January 1, 2020, for brand owners to exhaust the products that are in various accredited agro-input dealers (distributors/marketers/retailers) outlets.”
The agency ordered the mandatory listing of dealers, distributors, marketers and retailers of agrochemicals.
It stressed that all NAFDAC formations are expected to collect the list to ensure continual monitoring of all agro-dealers in their states, the statement stated further.