Senate sets December deadline to ban sachet alcohol

Sachet alcoholic drinks

The Senate, on Thursday, issued a firm directive to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control not to extend the December 31, 2025 deadline for the prohibition of the production and sale of alcoholic beverages in sachets and small-volume PET bottles.

The resolution followed a motion of urgent national importance moved by Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong (Cross River South) during plenary on Tuesday.

Presenting the motion, Ekpenyong said the enforcement timeline was in line with global regulatory standards and international best practices aimed at reducing alcohol-related harm among Nigerians.

He recalled that in 2018, the Federal Ministry of Health, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, NAFDAC and industry groups, including the Association of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employers, jointly signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding to gradually phase out sachet and mini-bottle alcoholic drinks to curb the growing abuse of cheap, high-strength alcohol among young people. Punch