The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has closed three cosmetics shops and conducted raids on several others in Lagos for selling and stocking unregistered products.
The Team lead who is also the Chief Regulatory Officer of NAFDAC Investigation and Enforcement Directorate, Mr. Ishildi Sunday, disclosed this while speaking with newsmen at the Trade Fair Complex in Lagos.
He stated that NAFDAC had received a complaint from the trademark owner regarding alleged counterfeit products and the market authorization holder.
The operation targeted shops selling “Dr. Teal’s” brand cosmetics, prompted by a complaint from the trademark holder about possible counterfeit items. NAFDAC confiscated samples for laboratory testing to confirm their safety and authenticity.
On Wednesday, the Agency’s enforcement unit conducted a raid on the cosmetics section of the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex and other prominent cosmetics stores in the Egbeada and Ikeja areas of Lagos.
The enforcement team explained that the raid was based on information from concerned Nigerians. They took action against two suspected shops at the trade fair complex along Excellent Line. Although the shop owners were absent, attendants were given invitation letters, and some shops were sealed.
Managers of the affected shops and supermarkets claimed to possess documents supporting their products and pledged to provide them upon request.
Sunday said, “Technically, any regulated product that does not have a NAFDAC registration number is considered fake. As it is, any product that is not registered, we cannot vouch for the quality and safety of the use of the product by the general public.
“Since it is our mandate as an agency to safeguard the health of Nigerians and ensure that all regulated products are safe and of good quality, we can only confirm its safety through laboratory analyses.”
He explained that the affected shops would be reopened after applying the required sanctions for selling, manufacturing, or distributing unregistered products.
Sunday noted that if the shop owners are found guilty, they would be subject to an administrative penalty of N5 million for selling unregistered products, as per NAFDAC’s tariff.
“Retailers and suppliers are liable and NAFDAC will penalise violators,” Sunday stressed. He insisted that NAFDAC would be charged with the necessary sanctions.
“Our focus was primarily on Dr. Teal’s. Therefore, to avoid distractions, we’re considering the exigencies and the number of shops we have to visit, and we focus mainly on the product in question.
“We evacuated 3 unregistered products; shower gel, oil, lotion etc. We have also issued invitation letters to them. Also, another shop called Cubana Stores (Global Venture) located at Phil Hallmark Plaza, was sealed for stocking and selling the Moisturising Body and Bath range of the alleged unregistered Dr. Teal’s brand of cosmetic product to the public. He was issued an invitation letter to the NAFDAC office.
“The owner, however, claimed unaware of the allegation of non-registration of the product and led the team to the ‘Perfect Trust’, located at the Kano Plaza building, where he claimed to have bought it.
“Although the enforcement team confirmed various ranges of the products in the shop, the shop was not sealed as the Cubana owner was not able to produce the required receipt of purchase.
“At Okas Global Link Ltd, where large cartons of Dr Teals and other unregistered products were discovered and suspected to be the distributor of the unregistered Dr. Teal’s products, over 200 cartons of various ranges of it were, and a large number were confiscated by NAFDAC,” he said
Sunday highlighted the health risks associated with using fake cosmetics, noting that they can lead to various health challenges. He explained that the effects depend on the bleaching agents or active ingredients in the cosmetic.
He noted, for example, if a cosmetics product contains mercury, a bleaching agent, it can cause the person to develop wrinkles, red-dark patches on the skin, and eventually lead to skin cancer.
“Some of them, like hydroquinone, NAFDAC allows only a certain percentage; but when it is in excess, it becomes a threat to the skin. You know, skin toning has to do with inhibitions of the enzyme that produces melanin that gives us natural pigmentation; so, what the compound does is inhibit the activities of these enzymes that convert phenylalanine, which is a precursor to melanin that gives us skin pigment from being active, leading to toning or bleaching of the skin.”
Supporting these statements during the raid in Ikeja, the Team Lead and Assistant Director of Investigation and Enforcement at NAFDAC, Mr. Ushadari Kayam, explained that the shop owners had ignored several warnings from NAFDAC regarding stocking and selling unregistered products.
Kayam noted that some of the products were unregistered, fake, and adulterated, which would require further investigation. He added that the owners of the supermarkets had been invited for questioning.
