Emmanuel Thomas, Lagos
Lagos, Nigeria – 10 March 2016: Guinness Nigeria Plc has filed notice to discontinue the court action instituted against the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Attorney General of the Federation.
Guinness had filed the suit on receipt of a letter dated 9th November 2015 from NAFDAC which, among others, imposed administrative charges of one billion naira (N1billion) on the company.
In a statement, Guinness said that termination of the court action was predicated on the letter dated 15th February 2016 from NAFDAC , which stated that NAFDAC would be present during the destruction of expired raw materials in its rented warehouse.
The statement added that parties have 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 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”, it added.
Guinness added that the administrative and service charges of approximately N11.4m has since been paid to NAFDAC.
Guinness Nigeria is home to some of the most iconic brands in Nigeria including Guinness Foreign Extra Stout.
As part of the Diageo group of companies, Guinness Nigeria operates to the highest standard of quality in its production and processes, being guided not only by Nigerian but global best practices.
Guinness Nigeria acknowledged the support received from the Minister of Health and former Director-General and senior management of NAFDAC towards amicable resolution of the matter and expressed its commitment to maintain and foster a strong and mutually beneficial relationship with NAFDAC.
