SON Intensifies Operation To Combat Uninspected, Substandard Goods
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), bent on pursuing its mandate, despite being denied a recall to the nation’s point of entries, has intensified its operation to enable it go after goods that may leave the nation’s seaport unchecked.
This resolve, according to the regulatory agency, remained the option to reducing the influx of substandard goods into the country to the barest minimum.
Osita Aboloma, the Director General, SON, said at an enforcement exercise at the weekend in Lagos that the agency has been reinvigorated- courtesy of SON act 2015- to go after any suspected good or inspect premises and factories in its quest to rid the Nigerian market of substandard products, pointing
The SON boss- represented by the Deputy Director and Coordinator of its Surveillance Investigation and Monitoring (SIM) Unit, Isa Suleiman disclosed that about 100 containers stocked with substandard tyres worth over N1 billion were seized.
‘‘These containers were carrying SON regulated products, what we are seeing today is a result of our surveillance and information that was given to SON, and we followed up. This is also the efforts of the SIM inaugurated some months ago to achieve more result. We have found out that these unscrupulous people bring in the container from the port, lock themselves and produce. We all know the dangers of substandard tyres; and what we have seen here today are tyres stuffed into each other. Each tyre has five tyres stuck into it which makes these tyres technically destroyed. They bring in tyres as raw materials and do the labelling here. They also engage in this act to short -change the federal government by not paying duties on the four tyres. This act poses threat to lives and also leads to economic sabotage’’, he said.
Suleiman stated further: ‘‘this illicit trade is happening because SON is not present at the point of examination. Ordinarily, if we are present at the ports, this will not be happening. What we have here is estimated to be over 100 containers worth N1 billion, but this practice is commonplace and the simple reason is that SON is not at the point of examination. We discovered through our Nigeria Integrated Customs Information System (NICIS) that this container was actually there for examination, but SON was not invited. As a result of that, the container came out without inspection, but we have been able to seize the container; and we found stuffed tyres stocked in it.
“We have discovered that there are locations where these tyres are unstuffed and taking into different markets in the country. Consequently, we will be going to wherever they are to intercept them. The tyres are new, but what they do is stuff these tyres into each other, making these tyres dead on arrival. Tyre itself is life endangering, and by the time they have been stuffed into each other, automatically, they are not safe for use.’’
It would be recalled that SON inaugurated SIM to reduce the influx of substandard goods into the country by at least 30 per cent before the end of 2018.
Aboloma said the move had become expedient for SON to have independent intelligence gathering, monitoring, assessment and intervention from time to time to ensure transparency and accountability, stressing that the inauguration was also expected to promote effective service delivery and the expected turnaround time.
“We are setting up this Unit for quick turnaround time and for us to achieve the desired result of at least reducing the level of substandard goods by 30 per cent before the end of 2018. We are also using this Unit to safeguard genuine manufacturers and importers of goods and services, so we have to prevent the influx of substandard goods into Nigeria against unfair competition while also improving the lives of Nigerians through standards and quality assurance”, he said.
According to him, “As the need arises, we evolve our strategies to rise up to the occasion, and this is the first time we are setting up such unit and we believe it is going to yield a positive result. This is an innovation and we are stepping up our game in the fight against substandard goods.”
The SON Chief Executive added that the inauguration was in line with the anti-corruption crusade and ease of doing business initiative of the federal government, stressing the need to set up an intervention unit in the office of the Director General for rapid response to issues relating to stakeholder interactions in similar fashion to that of the Federal Operations Unit or Comptroller General of Customs’ strike force in the Nigerian Customs Service or the Inspector General of Police’s special team of the Nigeria Police Force.
By Independentng
