- SON, ANLCA to Block Substandard Goods at Entry Points
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria and the Association of Nigeria Licensed Clearing Agents are collaborating on measures aimed at combating substandard products at the point of entry into the country.
Speaking during a meeting of ANLCA and SON in Lagos on Thursday, the Director General, SON, Osita Aboloma, declared that the organisation was ready to partner the clearing agents to check the menace at the point of entry.
He explained that ANLCA was one of its strongest allies to reduce the preponderance of fake and substandard goods in the country to the barest minimum.
Speaking further, Aboloma stated that the agency was working relentlessly to fully automate its process to reduce the level of human interface, stressing that this would help to eradicate the use of touts to get access to its services while also ensuring seamless port operations for stakeholders in the maritime industry.
He said, “We are appealing to the operators in this industry to be forth coming in their declaration of goods so that they do not take advantage of the lacuna involved in the clearing processes. They have agreed to work with us in all sincerity while also keying into our processes to create an enabling environment for operators. We are trying to fully automate our processes to make it seamless; this will help to tackle some of the corrupt practices that operators experience at the ports. When you automate, you have less human interface; there will be no more need to patronise touts for accessing our services.
“The fight against substandard goods starts from beyond the shores of Nigeria and that is why we have put SONCAP in place to verify the quality of products coming in. We still have to follow products that we suspect are substandard and even in the markets. Importers must insist on doing the right thing and imbibe the culture of standardisation and quality assurance so that people will have confidence in their products or services. Do the right thing to save cost and lives so that we can continually improve the lives of Nigerians through standards and quality assurance.”
Also speaking at the event, the Vice President, ANLCA, Dr Kayode Farinto, commended SON for its relentless efforts aimed at tackling substandard goods while also pledging to support the agency in its quest to rid Nigeria of such goods.
“We stated the challenges that we face in the course of carrying out operations at the ports, but the DG is very proactive where most of their processes are automated and it has so far helped us to achieve seamless operations at the ports.
