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2000 locally made products to receive certification for export

By Marcel Mbamalu, News Editor
16 September 2015   |   2:56 am
Determined to revitalise local businesses for global competitiveness, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has partnered the United Kingdom Trade Office to certify about 2000 locally made products for exportation.

hides-skinDetermined to revitalise local businesses for global competitiveness, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has partnered the United Kingdom Trade Office to certify about 2000 locally made products for exportation.

This was disclosed by Director/Head of laboratory Services of the organisation, Louis Njoku, at the weekend, during a media briefing in Lagos, on the activities of the organisation in the last few years, under the leadership of its Director General (DG), Dr. Joseph Ikemefuna Odumodu.

He said SON, in an attempt to get a fair picture of the situation, commissioned a baseline study, which revealed that the prevalence of sub-standard goods in Nigeria was as high as 85 percent, while the level of awareness about the hazards of these harmful goods was almost zero per cent.

According to him, the organisation responded swiftly to the terrible state of affairs through actions that were premised on a six-point agenda, which included consumer protection and engagement, improving the competitiveness of local products, aggressive conformity assessment, global relevance and capacity building.

Noting that SON offers free certification for SMEs in the country in order to prepare them for export and put an end to Nigerian goods being rejected in the international market, he said the recent amendment of the SON Act would equip the organisation to effectively perform its duties.

He stated that the attainment of greater capacity building through training and re-training of SON staff; re-modeling of Standards Organization of Nigeria Conformity Assessment Programme (SONCAP) for greater efficiency and introducing e-products registration scheme to ensure traceability of products were some of the significant achievements of the organization.

He said Nigerian products are being certified for export and enhanced product quality, adding, “SON has granted country-wide ISO certifications, the ISO 9000, to several firms and public institutions. There is also on-going certification of 2,000 SMEs yearly at no cost, towards enhancing their efficiency. This is done in collaboration with the UK Trade Office. SON has also procured mobile metrology laboratories which render services at desired sites.”

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