The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has said it has begun enforcing a ban on the production and sale of alcohol in sachets and PET bottles below 200ml.

Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, NAFDAC’s Director-General, announced the development during a media briefing in Lagos on Wednesday.

The agency said the move follows a directive from the Senate, which ordered the ban as part of wider efforts to reduce alcohol-related harm.

NAFDAC had previously stated that it would fully enforce the ban by December 2025. However, the plan was temporarily suspended after the Federal Government asked for a review, pending consultations and a final decision.

Prof. Adeyeye said NAFDAC had now received a “matching order” from the Senate to proceed and had already begun enforcement.

She said the ban was necessary to protect public health and prevent children, adolescents and young adults from easily accessing alcoholic beverages.

“The proliferation of high-alcohol content drinks in sachets and small bottles makes them affordable, easily accessible and easy to conceal,” she said.

“We are not against alcohol, but we are against its spread in small containers, which makes it available to children.”

Prof. Adeyeye added that, before she took office, sachet alcohol had alcohol concentrations ranging from 50 to 90 per cent — levels she described as “extremely high”.

She said manufacturers were asked to reduce alcohol content to 30 per cent, a decision that led them to appeal to the Ministry of Health, citing potential job losses.

The then Minister of Health granted them a five-year period, from December 2018 to January 31, 2024, to adjust their operations.

Prof. Adeyeye said NAFDAC remained committed to protecting public health and ensuring the safety of vulnerable groups.