By Meletus EZE
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) says it is in partnership with freight forwarders on tackling the influx of substandard goods into the county.
The Director General, SON, Osita Aboloma, said this at a stakeholders meeting with the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANCLA) on Thursday in Lagos.
He said that the partnership would checkmate the menace of substandard products at the point of entry.
Aboloma said that clearing and forwarding practitioners were vital in SON’s quest to tackling the influx of substandard goods.
He explained that ANLCA was one of its strongest allies to reduce the preponderance of fake and substandard goods to the barest minimum, saying that SON would intensify its engagements with operators in the maritime industry through sensitisation programmes.
“With this move, the agency would also be creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive while also protecting the lives of the unsuspecting Nigerian consumers,” he said.
He also said that SON was working relentlessly to fully automate its process to reduce the level of human interface, stressing that this would help to eradicate the use of touts to get access to its services while also ensuring seamless port operations for stakeholders in the maritime industry.
“We are appealing to the operators in this industry to be forth coming in their declaration of goods so that they do not take advantage of the lacuna involved in the clearing processes.
“They have agreed to work with us in all sincerity while also keying into our processes to create an enabling environment for operators.
“We are trying to fully automate our processes to make it seamless, this would help to tackle some of the corrupt practices operators experience at the ports. When you automate, you have less human interface, there will be no more need to patronise touts for accessing our services,” he said.
According to him, the fight against substandard goods starts from beyond the shores of Nigeria.
“We still have to follow products that we suspect are substandard and even in the markets.
“Importers must insist on doing the right thing and imbibe the culture of standardisation and quality assurance so that people will have confidence in their products or services.
“Do the right thing to save cost and lives so that we can continually improve the lives of Nigerians through standards and quality assurance,” he added.
Also speaking, the National Vice president of ANLCA, Dr. Kayode Farinto, commended SON for its efforts aimed at tackling substandard goods while also restating its commitment to supporting the agency in its quest to rid Nigeria of substandard goods.
“We stated the challenges that we face in the course of carrying out operations at the ports, but the Director General is very proactive where most of their processes are automated and it had so far helped us to achieve seamless operations at the ports.
“The onus now lies with us to sensitise importers on the negative effect of dealing with substandard goods on the economy.
“We are also going to work with SON to ensure that any good that does not conform to international best practices, will not be cleared by our members.”
He however urged operators in the industry to be patriotic and desist from the illicit trade of substandard goods which has no economic value.
The Director, SON Compliance, Mr Obiora Manafa said that the association plays a big role in ensuring the safety of Nigerians and property.
Manafa assured that SON would continually engage stakeholders to sensitise and the general public on the harmful effects of substandard goods to lives and the economy at large.
“Although ANCLA members are not the importers, they are the ones clearing these goods, hence the engagement by SON so that they can sensitise the mporters to do the right thing.
He said that plans were underway to organise a sensitisation workshop scheduled to hold on Nov. 5, in Port Harcourt for stakeholders in the maritime industry on the need to adhere strictly to standards while also complying with regulations.
