Substandard Goods: SON Seeks Better Collaboration To Shield Local Infant Industries

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has advocated the need for improved collaboration between the agency and the players in the Nigeria manufacturing sector so as to redefine the process of production of goods to meet acceptable standards in the country.

According to SON, only the manufacturers play according to the set standards to support the fight against substandard goods that Nigerian goods can compete favourable at the international market and stand the test of time.

The director General SON, Malam Farouk Salim, gave the assertion on Tuesday at the 51st annual general meeting in Lagos organised by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) with the theme, Standards: An imperative for competitive manufacturing in a continental and Global Market.

He explained that the agency will continue to ensure that local manufacturers are protected against importation and influx of fake and substandard goods in the country.
SON asserted that it is determined to assist businesses and local manufacturers to become competitive and successful through it’s various standardisation and quality assurance efforts.

Salim said, the topic is apt, with AfCFTA trade pact which, he said, would create new opportunity for African manufacturers to explore new grounds and exerts positive influence in the manufacturing sector.
SON affirmed that this will bring competitiveness and increase the need for industries to improve, adding that, countries that adopt standards are growing faster while calling for more testing labs from federal government and individuals.
SON further said, its prepared and available to collaborate with manufacturers to enhance access to the continental market while calling on manufacturers to collaborate as well with it.
He, however, called on MAN to demand its right by insisting on One Single Tax window to pursue their goal by going to the National Assembly to work out strategies to insist on Single Tax window.
On his part, the national president of MAN, Engr Mansur Ahmed, assured that, the manufacturers will continuously collaborate with SON and ensure that any of its members that doesn’t sustain with the set standards is brought to book.
Engr Ahmed implored the local infant industries to adhere strictly to the standards so as to give their products a face in the African Continental Free Trade Agreement AfCFTA.
Also speaking, chairman, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria(MAN), Apapa branch, Engr Frank Ike Onyebu, said the last business year was yet another dynamic year for the entire manufacturing community daunted with difficult operating environment.
He stated that, the foremost challenges were direct fallout of economic trends in Nigeria, adding that, the economy was hit by various factors simultaneously.
He said, most worrisome is the fact that key operational challenges identified in the past still haunt the real sector.
He posited that resilience could be the reason most members within the Apapa axis are still in manufacturing business despite the unabated increase in most of their input. We are yet to recover from the impact of COVID 19 on the sector.
“Our quest to continue to create jobs for the teaming unemployed youths is threatened with these challenges. Job loses are imminent with the supply chain disruptions, scarcity of raw materials, breakdowns in production chain, internal security, FX illiquidity, fx constraints, inflationary pressures, weakening purchasing power, poor public infrastructure, multiple taxation and port related issues,” he pointed out.
Environmentalist and general manager of LASEPA, Dolapo Fasawe, hinted that, the environmental protection agency is stepping up plans to reduce the imprints of carbon emissions from industrial activities adding that the agency is working to ensure that industries, manufacturers, hoteliers and all others conform to standards of waste management.