The Standard Organisation of Nigeria, SON, is set to commence blacklisting of both local and foreign companies involved in the manufacturing and importing of substandard goods into the country. Joseph-Odumodu, DG SON making this known to Vanguard in an exclusive interview in Lagos, Director General of SON, Joseph Odumodu, said “Blacklisting would enable SON deal with those involved in the manufacturing and importation of substandard products into the country.
He noted that the step was necessary to enable SON collate data of those involved in the manufacturing and importation of products in the country.
He said, “We need to know the manufacturers because we need to begin to blacklist them. Every time we accost a container on the road, there are no documents. You only see a container, a driver and the escort that is all, nothing else. We do not even know who owns the container and we do not want to continue that way, we need to continue to probe all these containers.
“In fact today, if we seize any container and we do not see who owns it ,we will never release it and when it stays for a period of three months we will do what the law said we should do. “It also empower us to collect data. The fact is that for a regulated product today, you do not have the right to put it in the market if you have not registered it and what we ask for is information on where the product is coming from, who made it and from where.
“The reason we asked for this is that, if you want to put a product in the market you must be responsible for any untoward effects of that product that is product liability insurance.
“Gone are the days when you put a product in the market in the 21st century and a child dies and then people start running around saying we do not know who brought the product. We need to know and we need to know who must pay compensation if need be and it also means that if you do not have the capacity do not put your product in the market.” The SON boss pointed out that the target is to further reduce importation and manufactured substandard goods in Nigeria to about 15 percent at the end of this year.
Source Vanguard