Manufacturers Seek End To Overlapping Regulatory Functions

Stakeholders in the manufacturing sector have called for the adoption of good regulatory governance principles to unlock full capacity of businesses and industries, and tackle the implications of overlapping regulatory functions on business operations and the manufacturing sector.

The manufacturers made the call in Lagos at the Manufacturer Association of Nigeria (MAN) chief executive officer breakfast meeting.

The meeting themed; Harmonising Regulatory Compliance; The impact of overlapping regulatory functions on business operations.

Earlier, Founder of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, (CPPE), Dr. Muda Yusuf said the call was particularly important as this was not the best of time for Manufacturers and investors in the country.

Yusuf said regulatory risk was one of the biggest risk that business had to cope with in the Nigerian economy.

This, he noted, could manifest as overlapping regulatory regimes with too many regulations, both sporadic and frequent regulatory changes and absence of dispute resolution mechanism between business and regulators have several cases of overlapping regulatory functions creating challenges for manufacturers. Hence, the need for regulatory needs to be kept to the barest minimum.

CPPE Boss also stressed the need to harmonise the applicable exchange rate for the computation of import duty.

Yusuf noted that while the policy lasted, it created a lot of confusion in the international trade ecosystem, as items that were on the CBN import prohibition list were not on the fiscal policy prohibition list.

He stressed that the regulators purpose and objectives should be clearly defined and communicated to the regulator, the regulated and the general public.

He said stakeholders should be able to predict with a high degree of confidence what decision a regulator is likely to make in a particular circumstance.

Also speaking, President (MAN) Otunba Francis Meshioye said while regulations were essential for safety and quality, the overlapping and sometimes contradictory regulations increase operational cost and ultimately hinder business growth.

He noted that Nigeria’s regulatory landscape was characterised by a multitude of agencies with it’s own set of rules and requirements.

“These bottlenecks have adverse effects such as operational inefficiencies, increase compliance cost, delayed production and risk,” he said.

Chairman (MAN) Ikeja Branch, Elder Robert Ugbaja underscored the importance of collaborative efforts in addressing regulatory challenges and driving positive change.

He, however, called for the development of practical strategies that promote regulatory harmonisation that will unlock full capacity of businesses and industries.