The Executive Director, Nigerian Export Promotion Council. (NEPC), Dr Ezra Yakusak, has revealed that the organisation would soon collaborate with the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) to explore the possibilities of establishing more hibiscus flower fumigation chambers across states.
This he said was to boost exportation of the product, as well as address the issue of export rejection.
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Dr Yakusak said this when he paid a courtesy visit to a Kano-based biggest hibiscus fumigation chamber in Nigeria. He said it was a positive development that the export sector had taken a bold step to ensure that its export products meet up with the standard by patronising countries.
“Most of the cases that stopped acceptance of Nigerian products abroad are usually associated with export rejects that have to do with certification and other related issues. I am happy today that we are having the biggest fumigation chamber. We will work with NAQS to ensure that we have more of such chambers,” he said.
In his response, the Managing Director, Mu’min Foods and Drugs Limited, operators of the fumigation chamber, Alhaji Abdullahi Usman, stated that the company had successfully exported over 2,000 containers of fumigated hibiscus flower to other parts of the world, adding that with the standard being followed, Nigeria’s hibiscus is currently enjoying a wider acceptance worldwide.
He added that with the fumigation chamber, demand for Nigerian hibiscus had increased and exporters were battling to meet up with the rise in demand.
