Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, has called on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to assist in establishing centres in Africa for the treatment of primary products packaged for export. This appeal was made during his visit to the Director-General of the WTO, Nigeria's Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in Geneva. The visit took place on the sidelines of the ongoing 148th assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Switzerland.
Accompanied by the Senate President and leader of the Nigerian delegation to the IPU assembly, Senator Godswill Akpabio, the Deputy Speaker expressed concerns about the declining export of primary products from Africa to other parts of the world.
He highlighted the challenges faced by African businessmen in marketing their products due to aflatoxins that contaminate them before reaching their destinations. This is particularly problematic within the framework of "The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)", which provides duty-free treatment to goods from designated sub-Saharan African countries (SSAs).
Aflatoxins, produced by certain moulds such as Aspergillus species, are poisonous carcinogens and mutagens that grow in soil, decaying vegetation, and various staple foodstuffs and commodities. Kalu, therefore, solicited the WTO's assistance in setting up centres in Africa for the treatment of primary products packaged for export.
In response to Kalu's enquiries, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala stated that the WTO is aware of the situation and is eager to assist countries in implementing their respective protocols on the issue. She mentioned that the WTO has been heavily promoting "re-globalization", an initiative aimed at persuading supply chains of companies located outside Africa that the continent is also a good place for business. She emphasised that the WTO is very much interested in maintaining contact and ensuring that any country wishing to request their help to implement their protocols will be able to do so.