SON destroys 500m worth of substandard goods

As part of its efforts to ensure that only goods that meet the minimum requirements of the Nigerian Industrial Standards (NIS) are paraded in the Nigerian market, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has destroyed over N500 million worth of substandard goods in the country.

The Director General, SON, Dr. Joseph Odumodu explained that despite all the agency’s tireless efforts to enlighten the public about negative effects of substandard goods to lives and the economy at large, not well meaning Nigerians still indulge in the unscrupulous trade activities.

Odumodu who was represented by ‎the Head of Inspectorate and Compliance, SON, Mr. Bede Obayi during the destruction of the substandard goods at its dump-site in Shagamu, Ogun State, stressed that the action by SON was in line with its zero tolerance to substandard products and also serve as a deterrent to unscrupulous importers who do not mean well for the nation.

“The total value of these substandard goods is over N500 million and this is not the first time we are destroying this year because since January to December, we have destroyed over N5billion worth of substandard goods in this country. If they do not rest, we will also not rest, we will continue to fight this act until we rid this country off substandard products

“We are also going to intensify our effort to ensure that these products do not find their way into the Nigeria market and also warned importers to desist from the act.You all a aware that these goods are imported by people who do not mean well for the country. We have told them that if they must bring in goods, it must be goods that meet the minimum requirements of the Nigerian Industrial Standard (NIS) that will give consumers value for their hard earned money,” he said.

According to him, the sub-standard products to be destroyed includes, electric armoured cables, tyres, expired supermarket breakfast cereals, extension sockets, mini led flash lights, rechargeable lamps, shaving sticks, mobile phones, stabilisers, engine oil, ‎ball pens amongst others.
“We are destroying this huge volume of goods but creating jobs for people overseas because by the time we destroy these goods, we get nothing but economic loss. We are not happy destroying these products but if we can save the life of one Nigerian by burning these products, we have done something for this country and this is exactly the core mandate of our agency by showing zero tolerance for substandard goods in this contry‎,” he added.

He pointed out that the current administration will continue to show commitments to its zero tolerance policy and will also give a lot of awareness and enlightenment campaigns about the negative effects of these products in the country.

“We have used different fora to educate importers and other stakeholders on the right way to import products into the country.We have even published in newspapers the steps to import products into this country, our SON Conformity Assessment Programme (SONCAP) are in place and they are still running. Our e-registration programme is also active to help us trace each product to the importer and effectively monitoring of imports. We have told importers times without number that, importers should approach the SON to get the right standards for the products they are bringing into this country so that when they come in, we will not in anyway tamper with their goods but ensure easy access into ‎their warehouses,” he said.

He said: “These goods were destroyed to save the lives of Nigerians who are not aware of the harmful effect of these products. So many people have lost their loved ones by consuming these substandard products.

We want to use this opportunity to beg Nigerians especially the importers to always insist on doing the right thing, by working together with the authorities, to get the ‎right minimum requirements to import goods into the country. We want to also commend the media for being the vanguard of this country and we will continue to fight until only goods that meet the minimum requirements are paraded in our markets.”

He stated that ‎‎the destruction exercise is carried out in accordance with SON’s procedure which started with market survey, surveillance, inventory, seizure, sampling, laboratory tests and analyses to ascertain conformity to specifications and requirements of Nigeria Industrial Standards (NIS).
“Today’s exercise is therefore the culmination of a rigorous process to ascertain the quality of each product with the sole objective of improving lives through standards by protecting all of us as Consumers against the hazards associated with the distribution, purchase and use of substandard products, including loss of lives and properties as well as economic sabotage among others,” the SON official declared.

“We shall ensure that only appropriately certified products are in circulation in Nigerian markets. In 2014, we want to work to surpass our target of reducing the penetration of the substandard products into our country.We want to join hands with the President to reduce the rate of unemployment, as President Goodluck Jonathan is concerned and is exploring all mechanism to create jobs especially for our youths,” he stressed.