The Federal High Court sitting in Calabar, Cross River, has held that the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has the power to regulate all chemicals in Nigeria.
Justice E. A. Obile held that the importation, exportation and use of all chemical are within NAFAC’s regulatory purview, including clinker, which is used in cement production.
He delivered a judgment on a suit filed by the United Cement Company of Nigeria Limited (UNICEM).
The plaintiff contended in a suit filed on September 22, 2011 that NAFDAC lacks the powers to regulate the import or export of Portland cement ‘clinker’ for not qualifying as a chemical as specified in NAFDAC Act.
UNICEM argued that the word “chemical” as stated in Section 5(a) of the NAFDAC Act refers only to pharmaceutical chemicals.
It said any attempt by NAFDAC to regulate non-pharmaceutical chemicals would amount to usurping the functions of other regulatory agencies.
Court affirms NAFDAC’s power to regulate chemicals
