Guinness pays N11.4m fine to NAFDAC, withdraws suit over expired raw materials
Guinness pays N11.4m fine to NAFDAC, withdraws suit over expired raw materials
Guinness Nigeria has agreed to an out of court settlement with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control in the case of expired raw materials found in its warehouse.
The case, which has lingered since last year, now has Guinness opting to pay NAFDAC N11.4 million for the the inspection it carried out on the warehouse in respect of the expired raw materials.
The payment was tagged: Administrative and service charges.
This would be in place of the N1 billion fine imposed on the company for warehousing expired raw materials suspected to have been used in the manufacture of its products.
According to the company, NAFDAC has issued it with a Notice of Discontinuance of the court action instituted against it by the Agency and the Attorney General of the Federation.
The action was started following the receipt by the company of a letter dated November 9, 2015 from NAFDAC which, among others, imposed administrative charges of N1 billion on the company.
The termination of the court action was said to have been predicated on a letter dated February 15, 2016 from NAFDAC to the company, which was stated to “supercede the decisions contained in the Agency’s letter dated 9th November 2015”.
As part of the resolution, NAFDAC would be present during the destruction of the expired raw materials in Guinness’s rented warehouse and both parties agreed that this would be the procedure for the exercise in future.
Guinness Nigeria also agreed to pay administrative and service charges to NAFDAC to cover the cost of the investigative inspection of raw materials carried out by the Agency as well as the supervision by NAFDAC of the destruction of the raw materials, which would be carried out by Guinness Nigeria.
Guinness Nigeria acknowledged the support it received from the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole; the Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah; and from the former Director-General and senior management of NAFDAC towards the amicable resolution of the matter.
It also expressed its commitment to maintaining and fostering a strong and mutually beneficial relationship with NAFDAC.
