Nigeria will no longer accept influx of substandard products - SON

As opposed to the status quo, there will now be difficulty in the importation of sub-standard products into Nigeria after the Standard Organization of Nigeria - SON, warned importers of zero tolerance.

According to The Guardian, the have been numerous complaints received by the agency, and as a result, the group informed that it will stop at nothing to prosecute dealers in substandard goods both collectively or individually to serve as a deterrent to other criminally-minded persons.

The Director-General, SON, Osita Aboloma, stated this at a courtesy visit by Alaba Electronic Dealers to rekindle its relationship with the agency in checking the importation of substandard goods.

Aboloma said: “We will give you a moratorium period; what you are used to before the advent of our SON Act 2015, should be discontinued, our Act has revolutionized our processes at SON. We now have powers to bite, full power to prosecute, we do no longer rely on agents for quality assessment or enforcement of regulation of non-conformity of standards.”

The SON boss stated that the agency has considered most of the products sold in Alaba as life-threatening, warning that SON is on top of its game to fish out products that fall short of international best practices or the minimum requirements of the standards.

“This is a continuous interaction with critical stakeholders. We believe your section is one of the biggest in Africa. We consider electronics to be life-threatening. When we classify products as life-threatening, our enforcement will be stricter than others. We cannot do it alone and we also know the effect of substandard electronics on the health of Nigeria and the drain on the Nigerian economy.

“As part of our mandate, we must ensure that we have zero tolerance for the influx of substandard electronics. We must work together as Nigerians first and as regulators and as shareholders to check the unwholesome practice that most of you embark on this sector,” he said. He frowned at the activities of unscrupulous electronic dealers who deliberately mislead the unsuspecting consumers by way of faking established electronic brands, saying that it is an infringement on quality and trademark.

He enjoined the electronic dealers to develop their own brands, restating the agency’s support to protect their brands if registered with the standards body.

“I want to encourage you to develop your own brand and we will be with you to guide you through the processes of quality assurance and conformity assessment to our standards. If you develop your own brands you will register it with us and it becomes our duty to protect you from your brothers that decide to forge your products,” he added.

The Executive Chairman, Alaba Electronics, Paulinus Ugochukwu, pledged to support SON to end the continued sale of fake and substandard products tarnishing the image of Alaba international market.“We will engage in sensitization programmes to encourage these dealers to produce their own brand going forward,” he said.