By Adedapo Adesanya
As part of continued efforts to have a modernized meat haulage system in Nigeria, the federal government has given butchers and meat sellers across the country a deadline to stop transporting meat in open vans, pick-up vans, wheelbarrows, and others.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Mohammad Mahmood Abubaker, while speaking at the commencement of the distribution of refrigerated meat vans recently in Abuja, said they have till May 29, 2023, to adopt the system or face sanctions.
At the National Stakeholders Workshop on Meat Hygiene/Distribution of Refrigerated Meat Vans to butchers and meat sellers’ association, the Minister stressed that fanyone caught transporting meat in contravention of the modern meat haulage protocols would be left with no option but to have his/her carcasses.
He said that the quest to address the issues concerning meat haulage was a result of concerns expressed for not ensuring the safety of foods which has caused a huge amount of money in foreign exchange and has continued to limit Nigeria’s full participation in the trade of most agricultural commodities outside the shores of the country.
The Minister revealed that meat haulage was the act of transporting meat from one location to another, either within the abattoir premises or between the abattoirs in Nigeria.
Mr Abubakar pointed out that at the moment, the system in practice “was undesired, especially where carcasses had to be transported on wheelbarrows, open vans, pick up vans, among others, thereby exposing the meat to high-level contamination and quality compromised.”
Speaking further, the Minister stated that the ministry, in collaboration with financial institutions and private investors, expected that each state of the federation would start with at least five refrigerated meat vans, including the one that was donated free from the central government through the ministry.
On his part, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Ernest Umakhihe, represented by the Director of Veterinary & Pest Control Services, Dr Maimuna Habib, said meat hygiene was an important aspect of food safety that should not be handled with kid gloves, noting that it was in recognition of the perishable nature of meat and meat offal that necessitated the need to improve on the operation of meat processing.
He pointed out that apart from the need to sanitize and bring the meat haulage system to an international standard, the operation had the potential to create sustainable jobs for youths in Nigeria, adding that it was worthy of note that few states and investors had already keyed into the roadmap that guaranteed delivery of safe and qualitative meat to consumers.
He noted that the ministry had contributed to the drafting of the National Food Safety and Quality Bill that had passed the third reading at the National Assembly.
Modupe Gbadeyanka