Following intense pressure from stakeholders, the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has backed-off from its plans introduce pre-shipment inspection of vehicles. The exercise was to attract a levy of N20,000 per vehicle and its payable by the importer.
It had also appointed three companies; Cotecna Destination Inspection Limited, Quality Assurance Projects Limited and Medtech Scientific Limited as the service providers.
Following intense pressure from stakeholders, the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has backed-off from its plans introduce pre-shipment inspection of vehicles. The exercise was to attract a levy of N20,000 per vehicle and its payable by the importer.
It had also appointed three companies; Cotecna Destination Inspection Limited, Quality Assurance Projects Limited and Medtech Scientific Limited as the service providers.
The SON had explained that, pre-shipment inspection service was being introduced for verification of conformity to standards on used vehicles coming into the country.
The agency has however soft-pedaled on the proposal and equally halted the move to engage three service providers.
The suspension was as a result of due consultation and dialogue by freight forwarders along with the Director General of SON, Dr. Joseph Odumodu at a meeting in Lagos recently.
But confirming the suspension of the pre shipment inspection contract, National President of Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu said that the policy reversal was as a result of pressure mounted on the agency.
"At a meeting we had with SON, the collection of N20,000 on imported cars has been suspended"
According to him, the need to suspend the collection came as a result of what has been discovered about the pre-shipment inspection of vehicles into the country.
Shittu said that there is need for freight forwarders to engage SON on issues that border on importation of vehicles and other consignments.
He stressed that the meeting with SON paved way for the suspension on N20,000 collectable on imported cars.
Shittu said the DG SON understands the reason behind the suspension.
Shipping Position Daily recalls that, Odumodu had justified the move to introduce pre-shipment inspection as being part of efforts aimed at ensuring the successful implementation of the new automotive policy of the government.
Odumodu said since the Federal Government had decided to make the automobile industry a key component of the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan, the sector had been identified as a strategic industry group.
This, he added, was due to its large domestic market, labour intensive characteristics, strong industrial linkages, and existing installed base and export potential into the Economic Community of West African States’ market.
The SON boss said that out of the over 2,000 parts that made up a typical car, the government mandated only about 120 safety and environmental standards.
This, he added, called for the need to institute a regime that would ensure the effective enforcement of the standards and monitor their compliance.
Odumodu had added that, “while some measures of progress have been recorded in the fight against the scourge of low quality imports to Nigeria over the years, there is general consensus that the absence of a regime to determine the quality of used motor vehicles imported into Nigeria has not achieved the desired effect.
“It has resulted in the situation where many vehicles that have exceeded their permissible and useful life span continue to dominate the motor vehicle imports into the country.
“This has almost made Nigeria to become a dumping ground for substandard vehicles, because the focus since the inception of the SON conformity Assessment Programme has been skewed in favour of products other than motor vehicles and other heavy duty equipment.
“We have decided that as part of the SONCAP regime, a separate pre-shipment verification of conformity to standard on used vehicles be implemented by the organisation.”
The accreditation, according to him, will cover vehicle structural, mechanical and safety inspection; vehicle emission testing; valuation and appraisals of vehicles; odometer inspection and verification; and regulatory documentation, verification and authentication.
According to Odumodu, areas to be inspected by the firms include the vehicle structure, mechanical aspects, safety inspection, vehicle emission test and valuation of vehicles.
Others include regulation documentation, verification and authentication of motor vehicles.
The SON boss said the companies should not inspect or certify vehicles that were seriously
damaged, vehicles that have reached their life span and vehicles with outstanding data recall or
remedial action.
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