Charles Nwaoguji
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has issued a strong warning to individuals and organisations given to misrepresenting government regulatory institutions through false information to the public.
A statement from the office of the Director General, Osita Aboloma, in Abuja referred to a recent publication which quoted one Ms. Annabel Kamuche of NIcert Limited as stating that, “SON, the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Nigerian Agricultural and Plant Quarantine Services are not accredited to undertake conformity assessment of Nigerian products for export.”
Aboloma stated that the SON mandate to undertake conformity assessment of products for import into and export out of Nigeria is backed by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria Act, No 14 of 2015.
According to him, such misleading representation by Ms. Kamuche is a deliberate and calculated attempt to market the services of her company by maligning institutions she considers as her company’s competitors.
He added that the misleading statements are libellous to the reputation of the regulatory authorities cited by her, stating that appropriate action would be taken against her and her company.
The SON DG stated that the unfounded claim by the MD of NIcert Limited that, “regulatory agencies set up more hurdles for Nigerian exporters who have met the standards of the target market” is most unpatriotic and a blatant misrepresentation of the true situation.
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The SON statement clarified that one of the most important aspects of conformity assessment of agricultural and allied products and any other product for export is the international accreditation of the testing facilities, to assure the acceptance of the test results globally.
“SON laboratories have since 2015, attained international accreditation to the ISO 17025 standard and maintained the status with increasing scope of testing capabilities on a continual basis,” according to the SON Chief Executive.