90% of sub-standard products pass through seaports-SON

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has revealed that not less than 90 per cent of sub-standard products in Nigeria pass through seaports.

The Acting Director General of the SON, Dr. Paul Angya made this known at the two day SON capacity building organized for the media executives in Lagos over the weekend.

Angya described the removal of SON from port inspection as a major challenge for the agency to tackle influx of sub-standard products into the country.

According to Angya SON find the cases and incidents of sub-standard products circulating in the country the major challenge.

“We believe that the influx of sub-standard products has imparted our economy negatively. Sub-standard products that are offering cheap and do not give you value somehow get more attractive to our people than locally good products, they floated everywhere, they prevented local industries from thriving. When you produce locally and your produce is unable to compete with the sub-standard products make most industries to shot down”, he said.

He stressed that Nigeria has been rendered non-productive economy hence, could not help itself easily out of the current economic downturn.

Angya noted that refusing the SON access to seaports to text the quality of imported goods do more damage to the economy.

He explained that the policy guiding seaport operation did not provide adequately for SON to operate at the seaport which is the point of entry of those goods.

He maintained that 90 per cent of the substandard goods came into the country through seaports, saying it would have been easier for the SON to curb the incoming of such goods at the seaport rather than chasing the containers on the expressways within the country which the organisation resulted to.

He said when SON were disallowed to inspect goods at the ports, it resulted to chasing containers on the roads.

He said the Organisation in partnership with government is working with Chinese government where most of sub-standard products imported to stop the influx of inferior products in to Nigeria.

“All the products imported to Nigeria by Chinese companies are standard products but those imported by Nigerian from China are sub-standard. Out of 10 products in America 8 are from China and they are of the best quality, but out of 10 products in Nigeria 9 are from China and they are sub-standard”, he said.