Dare Babalola
The Senate has directed the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and other relevant regulatory agencies to strictly enforce the ban on packaging high-strength alcoholic beverages in sachet formats, effective December 2025.
The Senate has resolved that no further extensions will be granted beyond the current moratorium on sachet alcohol packaging, emphasizing a strict enforcement of the December 2025 deadline.
The Senate’s decision followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by Senator Asuquo Ekpeyong, highlighting the need to halt further extensions on the phase-out of alcoholic beverages packaged in sachet formats.
Ekpeyong, in his lead debate during plenary, reminded the Senate that NAFDAC, in line with international best practices and after extensive consultations with industry stakeholders had announced a phased ban on the importation, manufacture and distribution of alcohol packaged in sachets.
He explained that in 2018, stakeholders including the Federal Ministry of Health, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, NAFDAC and industry groups such as the Association of Food, Beverage & Tobacco Employers, AFBTE, and the Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria, DIBAN, voluntarily signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding, MoU.
The MoU committed them to gradually phase out such products, citing rising health and social concerns over their affordability, portability and accessibility, particularly among children, adolescents, commercial drivers and other vulnerable groups.
The senators recalled that despite the initial deadline, the Federal Government granted manufacturers an additional one-year moratorium in 2024 to enable them to exhaust existing stock and transition to compliant packaging alternatives, extending the phase-out until December 2025.
However, Ekpeyong expressed concern that as the deadline approaches, some manufacturers continue to lobby for another extension, a move he said undermines regulatory authority, threatens public health and distorts fair competition in the industry.
