The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) says is seeking an amendment to its Act to prescribe stiffer sanctions for manufacturers and importers of fake and sub-standard products
Director General of SON, Mallam Farouk Salim disclosed this at a media briefing in Abuja to mark the 50th anniversary of the organisation.
Salim explained that the provisions of the proposed law would not only stipulate that the importers and manufacturers of sub-standard products be fined but also jailed on conviction by the court.
He said SON was poised to fight against counterfeit and sub-standard products across the country, adding that “any time Nigerians buy sub-standard products, they are aiding and abetting the closure of Nigerian industries and helping the youths to be unemployed.”
Salim said the importers of counterfeit products contribute to the present insecurity in the country, as their activities have led to the collapse of industries in Nigeria.
He said before the 2015 amendment on the Act, the penalties were not very clear in the Act. So, the amendment has empowered us for conformity assessment.
“The reason we always amend the Act is that the world is evolving and industries are are always changing. Any time Nigerians buy sub-standard products, they are aiding and abetting the closure of Nigerian industries and helping the youths to be unemployed,” he said.
Salim said the importers of counterfeit products contribute to the present insecurity in the country,as their activities have led to the collapse of industries in Nigeria.
“The people following the rules are also changing. Hopefully, before the tenure of this administration, we will have another amendment that will be presented to the National Assembly.
“For example, in 2015, the penalty for importing sub-standard products was N1 million and N1 million now, is not significant. Most of these people importing these products are not poor, they are rich.
“In the industry where people break the rules, it is the consequences that stop them. So, we need to amend the Act to increase the jail term or give them the right to fine and make sure that jail term is added to it,” Salim said.
On the activities of SON over the last 50 years of its existence, Salim said the organisation has gone through a lot of transformation and evolved to become a standards regulatory body of global recognition.
According to him, “It is important to emphasise that SON today has evolved into one of the world’s most reputable standards regulatory bodies due to good leadership demonstrated by the successive chief executives.
“This is seen in the various innovations, championed by the past and present leaders of the organization.
Some of the notable innovations over time in the organisation are the Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (MANCAP) for local manufacturing and Standards Organisation of Nigeria Conformity Assessment Programme (SONCAP) for offshore assessment of cargoes
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