NAN-HE-6
SON
By Uche Eletuo
Lagos, Oct. 19, 2017 (NAN) The Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) on Thursday advised importers and manufacturers to adhere strictly to its Conformity Assessment Programme (SONCAP) to protect the health and safety of Nigerian consumers.
The Director-General of SON, Mr Osita Aboloma, gave the advice at a Stakeholders Forum on the “Ease of Doing Business for Operators in the South-West’’ held in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that SONCAP was introduced by the Federal Government to address the concern of unsafe products entering the country and to protect the health and safety of Nigerian consumers.
Aboloma urged importers to adhere to the SONCAP in their dealings to avoid undue delay in the clearing and haulage of their goods.
The director-general was represented by Mr Bede Obayi, the SON Director in charge of Inspectorate and Compliance,
Aboloma said that freight forwarders and clearing agents have the task of educating their clients (importers) on the dos and don’ts of the SONCAP to ensure strict compliance.
The director-general also advised the clearing agents, being the middlemen, to avoid unwholesome practice of swapping the SONCAP from certified products to uncertified ones.
He urged the importers to always contact SON’s international partners for clarification on their goods before shipment.
“It does not give us joy to impound goods because of their substandard state, and this is not to the knowledge of the importers.
“There are no doubts that there are unwholesome goods that have infiltrated our markets for some time now; the panacea to such heinous trend is what we are here to tackle.
“Our international partners like Cotecna and SGS are there for shippers to engage in pre-shipment assessment of cargoes,’’ Aboloma said.
According to him, pre-shipment appraisal of goods by these international agents will afford the shippers to know the standard of their products.
He said that with the new blaze of steadfastness on the part of SON management, at the instance of the executive order on the Ease of Doing Business, the country was safe.
The director-general said that the forum was to enable the stakeholders to galvanise efforts toward the advancement of the course as directed by the Federal Government.
Also, Dr Boniface Aniebolam, the Founder, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), said that various human factors limiting the growth of business should be dismantled at the nation’s ports.
Aniebolam identified such factors as double taxation and appraisal of cargoes by different operatives.
He, therefore, suggested that single window of examination of cargoes should be encouraged to avoid friction in the clearing and haulage at the nation’s ports. (NAN)
EUC/FF/GOK
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Edited by Fela Fashoro/Olagoke Olatoye