The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), is to offer rewards to genuine importers who transact businesses in compliance to the minimum requirements of the Nigeria Industrial Standards (NIS).
The Director General, SON, Mr. Osita Aboloma, explained that this move was in line with the present administration’s Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) mandate.
According to the DG, the agency would incentivise genuine importers by way of registration, reducing port charges and speedy clearance of containers.
Aboloma at a nationwide awareness programme on dangers of substandard products in circulation in Lagos International Trade Fair Complex, said,
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” If you are a genuine importer and you consistently do the right thing, we will reduce your processes, by extension, we have been able to assess your risk, your clearance and registration of the goods you are bringing in will come in easier and faster and at the same time, the unscrupulous importers would be blacklisted.
It is my believe that this would make unscrupulous importers desist from the illicit trade of substandard goods.”
He added: “We do risk profiling for the importers that gets it right. We encourage them and we have automated our processes to make it easier for them and those that defaults, we will blacklist them by sending their names to China so that they do not work with them to import fake and substandard products into the country, so it is a mere use of carrot and stick approach to fight against substandard products.”
Also speaking at the event, the president Balogun Business Association (BBA), Alex Obi Igbokwe, said the association would set up a standard club to the activities of unscrupulous businessmen in the market.
“We are going to flag off a standard club in the association in a bid to checkmate the activities of these importers; this would go a long way to curb the influx of fake and substandard products into the country.
As it affects the economy, it also affects us too, because most of our customers are running away as a result of purchasing substandard goods.
If they buy goods that does not meet their needs, they will not come back to buy another time, so for that reason there is need for us to sit up. The standard club will also help to curtail the activities of these so-called unscrupulous importers.”