The Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has said that it is targeting quality compliance for products produced by investors in the Calabar Free Trade Zone (CFTZ) to ensure consumer protection.
Dr Ifeanyi Okeke, Director General of organisation, disclosed this during interactive session with operators in CFTZ in Calabar on Thursday.
He also announced that a team from SON had commenced sensitisation of operators within the CFTZ on its new Special Economic Zone Conformity Assessment Programme (SEZCAP) aimed at ensuring product quality.
Okeke explained that SEZCAP was designed to address the unique operational nature of the Free Trade Zone (FTZ).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that SEZCAP is an initiative of the SON designed to ensure that products manufactured within Nigeria’s Free Trade or Special Economic Zones meet the Nigerian Industrial Standards (NIS).
While SEZCAP caters for the FTZs, the Mandatory Conformity Assess Programme (MANCAP) and the Standard Organisation of Nigeria Conformity Assessment Programme (SONCAP) covers for locally manufactured and imported products respectively.
Represented by Mr Akinware Ayodele, Deputy Director, MANCAP, Okeke explained that the FTZs which functioned as “a country within a country,” required a distinct certification mechanism.
Commending investors in the zone that are certified and those in the process of SEZCAP certification, he noted that the initiative would boost consumer protection and economic growth for Nigeria.
“We want to ensure that products manufactured in the free FTZ meet national standards to protect consumers and promote Nigeria’s economic development,” he stated.
On her part, Mrs Lydia Okaba, Head of Operations, CFTZ, lauded SON for the sensitisation of investors in the zone, which, according to her, laid to rest the issues of MANCAP and SONCAP.
She said the SEZCAP scheme was digital, easier, and faster for the investors to register.
Okaba, however, appealed for a reduction of the SEZCAP certification fee, which was N2 million annually and N1.5 million for renewal.
She noted that the certification fee was on the high side for the investors in view of the present economic realities in the nation.
Also speaking, Mr Nanik Mirpuri, Managing Director of Combination Industries, FZE, described SON’s initiative as timely and essential in maintaining product credibility in local and international markets.
Mirpuri, who said his company had operated in the zone since 1997, commended SON for its continuous collaboration, revealing that his firm was the first to register under the scheme.
He noted that Combination Industries single-handedly sponsored the development of standards for its products in partnership with SON.
According to him, this move underscored their shared commitment to quality assurance.
He said that the introduction of SEZCAP represented a major step forward, ensuring that goods produced in Nigeria’s free zones met global standards and were export-ready.
However, he expressed concern over what he described as the need for a “level playing field,” questioning whether local manufacturers outside the free zones pay comparable registration fees.
Mirpuri urged SON to ensure that all manufacturers, both within and outside the FTZs, adhere to the same quality and regulatory standards to sustain fairness and competitiveness.
