NEPC launches packaging compliance drive to rescue Niger Delta exports

NIGERIA – The Nigerian Export Promotion Council has launched packaging and compliance strategies to strengthen non-oil exports from the Niger Delta, warning that spoilage and poor presentation are costing regional producers international market access.

Ngozi Ibe, the council’s regional coordinator in Port Harcourt, opened a capacity-building workshop with a direct assessment of why products from the oil region underperform abroad despite strong demand. 

She cited palm oil and cassava as goods that spoiled within a single day at overseas exhibitions, illustrating how inadequate packaging destroys commercial opportunity before buyers can evaluate product quality. 

Her remarks framed packaging failure as a market access problem rather than a cosmetic shortcoming.

Packaging Recast as Compliance Requirement

Ibe rejected the assumption that attractive packaging is primarily about appearance. 

She argued that export packaging must be functional, compliant, durable, cost-effective and appropriate to its destination market, capable of surviving transport and handling while preserving product integrity from origin through to final consumer. 

She described packaging as integral to the product itself and often the first impression a buyer forms, adding that it should communicate quality, professionalism, authenticity and value while giving international buyers confidence in the standards behind the goods.

Training Covers Materials, Spoilage and Quality Control

The session moved participants through packaging fundamentals, materials selection, design, spoilage factors, regulatory requirements, quality control and hygiene considerations. 

Ibe emphasised that packaging protects, preserves and promotes simultaneously, and that getting it right safeguards not only products but also exporter reputation and buyer confidence in international markets.

State Ministry Sets Minimum Packaging Standards

Kevin Nweke, permanent secretary of the Rivers State Ministry of Commerce and Industry, announced that the ministry had established minimum packaging standards for products. 

He said the ministry encouraged value addition, noting that processing could raise a product’s value by as much as 300 percent. 

Egbuna Iloba, zonal coordinator for the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, attributed growth in non-oil exports to the council’s sustained activities. 

Nkechi Ezeworgu of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria identified packaging, labelling and compliance as decisive factors in export trade. 

For packaging suppliers serving the region, the launch signals rising demand for compliant, transit-durable formats capable of meeting international retail and regulatory expectations.

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