- SON, NAFDAC Unite Against Substandard Products
Two Federal Government agencies, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria and the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control, have agreed to collaborate in their fight against substandard products.
The agencies, according to a statement on Tuesday, expressed their commitment to intensifying intra-agency collaboration towards ridding the country of fake and substandard products.
While receiving the Director-General, NAFDAC, Mrs. Moji Adeyeye, who paid a courtesy visit to his office in Abuja, the Director-General, SON, Osita Aboloma, explained that the sister regulatory agencies had the collective responsibility of working for the overall interest of the nation.
Aboloma was quoted as saying that the enabling Acts of the two agencies as well as directives from the Presidency clearly delineated their functions, stressing that areas of perceived overlap should be taken as opportunities for collaboration and cooperation rather than competition.
He stated that the use of the harmonised systems codes for examination of goods at the nation’s entry points was in line with international best practices and aimed at reducing conflicts to the barest minimum.
Aboloma explained that the inspection visits by SON officials to factories producing NAFDAC regulated products based on the Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme had remained statutory and in line with the World Trade Organisation requirements, and aimed at ensuring a level playing field for locally manufactured and imported products.
The statement quoted the NAFDAC DG as saying that decades of practice as an academic and researcher on raw materials and chemicals had impacted on her the value of standardisation and its role in human and societal development.
Adeyeye likened the structure of the two agencies to what obtained in the United States of America where collaborative co-existence between the American Standards Institute and the Food and Drug Administration Department had been taken to enviable heights.
She commended the existing cordial relationship between the two agencies and advocated for greater synergy to ensure smooth exchange of information in the standards development and regulatory activities.
The NAFDAC DG also promised to provide the required support towards the achievement of the objectives of the joint standing committee of the two agencies.
“I look forward to greater and more regular interactions with the SON DG and management in the coming years to deepen the existing cordial relationship” Adeyeye was quoted as saying.
