The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) destroyed sub-standard products worth N3 billion from January to date, the Director General of the organisation, Mr Joseph Odumodu, said.
Odumodu stated this while speaking with newsmen at the national sensitisation workshop on zero tolerance for sub-standard products organised for the National Association of Nigeria Traders, Abuja chapter.
“Today, sub-standard goods in the markets have dropped and it is around 50 per cent; we are committed to reducing it to 30 per cent by the end of the year,’’ he added.
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) destroyed sub-standard products worth N3 billion from January to date, the Director General of the organisation, Mr Joseph Odumodu, said.
Odumodu stated this while speaking with newsmen at the national sensitisation workshop on zero tolerance for sub-standard products organised for the National Association of Nigeria Traders, Abuja chapter.
“Today, sub-standard goods in the markets have dropped and it is around 50 per cent; we are committed to reducing it to 30 per cent by the end of the year,’’ he added.
He said the agency would continue its zero-tolerance campaign against sub-standards products, adding that a new legislation is currently being worked on to penalise marketers of fake products.
“A lot of products are not registered, we gave a deadline and the deadline expired in June but people who have registered are less than five per cent of the products.
“Why are they avoiding registration?; it is because they know they are not selling the right products and they don’t want us to subject them to any evaluation and that is why we are doing this sensitisation.
“After this exercise, from September, we will carry out inspections in the market to remove products that are unregistered.’’
Odumodu said there were seized fake products worth billions of naira in its warehouse that had yet to be destroyed.
He said the huge amount being lost as a result of destruction of substandard products would have been used for genuine businesses.
According to him, anytime products are destroyed, Nigeria’s wealth is being destroyed.
Odumodu had earlier called on the traders to support the fight against sub-standards products as the sale of inferior goods was undermining the good name and reputation of the country.
“SON needs your support, stop dealing in fake products. Nigeria will not fail. We have seen the worst; with or without you, we will succeed,’’ he said.
The President of NANTS, Mr Ken Ukaoha, said that some of the traders and importers
were ignorant of the fake products they buy and sell.
“Many find it difficult to identify these products, but because life is involved and there are rules, importer can no longer be shielded from the blame.
“This poor knowledge of identification of fake and sub-standard products is what the SON has decided to tackle in a more collaborative manner rather than shifting blames,” he said.
He said that NANTS would collaborate with SON in the fight against fake products, adding that any trader found with sub-standard products would be punished.
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