Erasmus Alaneme
30 October 2008
Abuja — Consumer Protection Council (CPC), yesterday said 10 containers loaded with fake cigarettes are set to be released into the Nigerian market unless relevant government regulatory and monitoring agencies swing into immediate action.
Already, the CPC has alerted the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) of the attempts by some merchants to bring into the country the said substandard cigarettes.
In the statement made available to Daily Champion CPC said while five of the said containers have left a nearby border for the Nigerian market, the other five are already at the Tincan Island Port in Lagos ready to be cleared and distributed.
The CPC said the alert became inevitable to save Nigerian consumers from effects of substandard cigarettes.
"Intelligence reports indicated that five containers containing about 4,560 cases of a particular cigarette product loaded on trucks belonging to a tobacco dealer in Nigeria have left Lome Port in Togo, on their way to the Niger-Nigeria border for possible entry into the country.
"Similarly, another five containers of a Menthol Cigarette, which left its country of origin after the July 1, 2008 deadline for mandatory compliance with the new labeling requirements for cigarettes at factory/importation levels have arrived the Tin Can Island Port in Lagos and efforts are being made to clear the containers."
The council it had already sent letters to Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on this development, charging them to intercept before the contents of the containers get into the markets.
CPC said the products in the containers have not complied with the labeling requirements and allowing them into the market would constitute a breach of the resolutions reached by all stakeholders in the industry to comply with Cigarette Standard NIS 463: 2007 at a recent workshop organised by SON.
While pledging its commitment to the enforcement of the standard, the council, in its letter to the two agencies said: "Our recent findings, however, show that while some manufacturers/importers are making frantic efforts to follow the implementation schedule for the new changes, others appear to be looking for possible avenues to circumvent the rules."
It charged the two agencies to be on alert for these containers, stressing that allowing these sub-standard and fake products would amount to an "utter violation of the revised cigarette standard and the agreement reached by all stakeholders in respect of its implementation at the workshop organised by SON on Monday, 26th May, 2008".
Speaking on the development, CPC's director general, Mrs. Ify Umenyi, said her council had to call the attention of the two agencies to the development because cigarette smoking is regarded as dangerous, not to talk of those that are sub-standard, the statement added.
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