Daily Independent (Lagos)
Valentine Amanze
5 December 2008
Dealers in fake and substandard goods in Nigeria may soon be forced out of business. The Supervisory Minister for Commerce and Industry, Dr. Aliyu Idi Hong, has charged the regulatory agencies to re-appraise their efforts with a view to devising more ingenious methods to achieve greater success in the fight against fake products, including reviving the nation's ailing industries.
He also commended the agencies - Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), NAFDAC, Nigerian Customs Service and others - for their efforts at fighting the scourge of substandard goods importation and manufacture in Nigeria.
The minister, who spoke at the official opening of the Nigerian Industrial Standards (NIS) Products Quality Fair 2008 for the South West Zone in Lagos, singled SON out for assisting the surviving industries to compete effectively in the local and international markets.
"This accounted for the Federal Government's support through the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for the twin Conformity Assessment Programmes put in place by SON to ensure that both locally manufactured and imported products meet the minimum requirements of the Nigerian Industrial Standards that is the Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (MANCAP) to which all the products on display here today have been certified and SONCAP, the SON off-shore Conformity Assessment Programme for imported products," he said.
The minister however assured, "as part of the Federal Government's seven-point agenda, efforts are at an advanced stage with the governments from the Eastern markets to curb the export of substandard products to Nigeria from those countries."
Hong also promised industrialists that the Federal Government would soon reduce their suffering through the provision of infrastructure and enabling environment; and thus improve their competitive edge in the global market.
Besides, he acknowledged governments of Kaduna and Lagos states for supporting SON in the organisation of the fair, while urging other state governments to support the outfit in hosting similar programmes in the future to further encourage and mobilize industries nationwide particularly the small, medium scale enterprises as well as cottage industries.
Responding, the Director General, SON, Dr. John Akanya, commended the minister for attending the fair, while also hailing entrepreneurs in Nigeria for subjecting their products to the tedious process of certification as a means of assurance to their consumers and a tool of competitiveness locally and across the Nigerian border.
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