The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has shut down three cosmetics shops and raided several others in Lagos for the illegal sale and stocking of unregistered products.
The raid targeted shops selling “Dr. Teal’s” brand cosmetics, following a complaint from the trademark holder about potential fakes. NAFDAC seized samples for laboratory testing to verify their safety and authenticity.
The Agency’s enforcement unit on Wednesday raided the cosmetics section of the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex and other leading cosmetics shops in Egbeada and Ikeja areas in Lagos.
According to the enforcement team, the raid followed a tip-off from concerned Nigerians. They clamped down on two suspected shops located at the trade fair complex along Excellent Line. While the shop owners were not present, attendants were issued invitation letters, and some shops were sealed.
Some managers of the affected shops and supermarkets claimed to have documents to back up their products and promised to make them available.
Addressing journalists at the Trade Fair Complex, the Team lead who is also the Chief Regulatory Officer of NAFDAC Investigation and Enforcement Directorate, Mr. Ishildi Sunday said NAFDAC received a complaint from the trademark owner about alleged fakes and the market authorisation holder.
He 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 said the shops affected would be reopened after administering the necessary stipulated sanctions for the sale, manufacture or distribution of unregistered products.
Sunday said if the affected shop owners are found guilty they would pay an administrative penalty for sales of unregistered products of N5 million according to NAFDAC’s stipulated 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.
Speaking on the effect of using such products on health, Sunday said a lot of health challenges were associated with the use of fake cosmetics products, depending on the bleaching agents or the active ingredients in that particular cosmetic.
He said for instance, if a cosmetics product obtains mercury which is a bleaching agent, the person will develop wrinkles—red-dark patches on the skin that would 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.”
Corroborating his views during the raid in Ikeja, the Team Lead who is also Assistant Director, of Investigation and Enforcement, NAFDAC, Mr Ushadari Kayam, explained that the owners of the shops failed to heed NAFDAC’s series of warnings on stocking and selling unregistered products.
Kayam said some of the products were unregistered, fake and adulterated, which means that they will undergo investigation, adding that the owners of the supermarkets have been invited for questioning.
