The Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (Establishment) Act, 2018.

This Act, consisting of 28 articles, divided into six Parts, provides for the establishment of the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service, for the prevention of entry and spread of foreign pests and diseases of plant, animal and aquatic resources into the country, and therefore for the promotion of sanitary and phytosanitary measure, in relation to import and export of agricultural products, in order to minimise the risk to agriculture, food safety and the environment. Part I of the Act concerns the establishment of the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service, of its governing board, the appointment of its members. Part II concerns the definition of objectives, structure, functions of the Service, and powers of the Board. The Act defines the following objectives: preventing the introduction, establishment and spread of exotic pests and diseases of plants, animals and aquatic resources and their products into and outside the country, in order to safeguard the nation's agricultural economy; promotion of sanitary and phytosanitary measures for agricultural export, in order to ensure that the nation's indigenous agricultural pest and diseases are not exported; control of the regional and international movement of plant, animal and aquatic resources in order to prevent the introduction and spread of diseases; ensuring the protection of the nation's fisheries sector, ornamental fish species, and defining the standards for fisheries and ornamental fish trade; control of the production and registration of agro pesticides and preventing pesticides or mycotoxin contamination of agricultural commodities; increasing agricultural productivity, by contributing to wealth creation and employment generation, in order to ensure food security and rural development.
The Act defines the following functions of the Service: definition of standards on on agricultural quarantine procedure; ensuring compliance with International agreements, protocols, conventions and treaties on agricultural quarantine, including forestry, endangered species, plants, plant products, animal, animal products, aquatic resources and its products, biologics, wildlife and wildlife products; monitoring the agricultural quarantine Regulations and standards; ensuring that agricultural quarantine projects are carried out in compliance with plant, animal and public health Regulations; conduction of agricultural quarantine audit, pest surveys and disease surveillance, containment and eradication programmes; prohibiting the use of products capable of undermining public health, the environment and the agricultural economy; ensuring that all imports and export of live animals must be subject to quarantine inspection and certification; reporting to the competent authority of all plant pests and disease outbreaks. Further Parts provide for the appointment of the Director of the Board and the staff; financial provisions, including the special fund for the Service; miscellaneous provisions including: powers of authorised officers; preventing the arbitrary sale, distribution or slaughter of endangered animal species; penalties and offences.