The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Hon Alhaji Limuna Mohammed-Muniru has commissioned the ultra-modern inspection facility for the Plant Protection and Regulatory Service Directorate (PPRSD) at the Aviance Cargo centre at the Airport on April 25. The construction of the facility was financed by AVIANCE to help screen consignment of exporters to meet international standards. Honoring the commissioning were dignitaries from embassies, donor agencies, exporters as well as stakeholders in the vegetable sector. The facility will contribute to the activities of PPRSD to ensure consignments meet EU’s standards.

 Delivering a speech at the commissioning, the minister stated that being competitive at the market place is an important consideration which is why exporters must make considerable efforts to achieve the highest quality for their produce. This can only be achieved when farmers and exporters adhere to good agricultural and agronomic practices. He encouraged exporters to comply with operational regulations of product handling.

The minister sounded a word of caution to all stakeholders that any individual seeking to flaunt the rules will be dealt with accordingly. “The ministry will clamp down on their activities and apply the appropriate sanctions without fear or favour”

He encouraged inspection officers to ensure due diligence is followed for all plant produce intended for the export market and captured on the Phytosanitary certificate. He cautioned that uninspected produce must never make their way to the export market. “Any official who will compromise will have himself to be blamed”.

He expressed the ministry’s profound gratitude to Aviance and all stakeholders who played diverse roles in facilitating the new inspection facility to see the light of day.

Mr. Abdul Wahab of the Inspection unit facility took the minister and stakeholders present through the steps of inspection consignment undergo before the produced are arranged to be flown to the EU market.

The new facility can boast of a stereo microscope, diaphanoscope, binocular microscope, inspection kit, petri dish, deep freezer to store sample, digital measuring scale, sampling bags, grain probe, plant wise diagnostics hand guide, magnified hand lens, flashlight, disposal white papers for flower and foliage inspection, inspection knives, tablet computer, fruit refractometer, ethanol and approval and rejection stamp.

The entrants and walls within the inspection centre have clear posters of pest and plant diseases as well as regulations to follow as an exporter.