Post by Trade Forum on Apr 16, 2021 19:45:46 GMT 1
African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA): SON Seeks Return To Nigerian Ports
The Director General of Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), Malam Farouk Salim, has urged the Federal Government to allow the agency to return to the country’s ports. He made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recently in Abuja.
He argued that the return would help the organization to effectively monitor and check the influx of substandard products into the country as trading progresses under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
This call is coming from the Director General after a long period of absence from the ports due to the government’s eviction of many government agencies from the ports. The government took the eviction action after it found out that there was a proliferation of agencies at the ports.
It should be recalled that Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the then Minister of Finance and Coordination Minister of the Economy, had in 2011 evicted the agencies.
She did that to ease the processes of doing business at the ports. The ports were at that time bedeviled with congestion, and delays in cargo clearing.
Salim is saying that for the country to effectively curb the influx of substandard products, especially as trade under AfCFTA continues, the SON workforce should be allowed to return to the nation’s ports.
He claimed that in order to ensure that the borders are monitored properly, so as to protect the country from receiving substandard goods from other countries; SON officers should be allowed into the ports.
“Our people can be efficient if we are allowed to work at the point of entry of these goods; but right now we are not allowed at the ports” he said.
He complained that they are allowed once in a while to come in and check goods, but that is not the way it should be because SON should not depend on the generosity of other organizations to do its constitutional work.
He quoted the 2015 Act, Section 7(30b) which says that the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) must be at the port of entry into the country.
The DG noted that although there were other government agencies at the ports, SON has the statutory obligation and the knowledge to identify substandard goods.
He also said that if the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) was given a permanent access for inspection and enforcement of standards at the ports, the menace of substandard goods in the country would be greatly reduced.
He tutored that “what NAFDAC and the customs are doing at the ports are totally different from what SON does”.
SON gets along with them well, but they don’t need to depend on them to do their job, because they are supposed to be in the ports by right, except if the law is changed.
He said that one of the major problems they are having is not having offices in the ports. They requested for a space to build their office but were denied by the authorities of the ports.
The DG explained that they have 1,700 employees across the country, and currently have 42 offices in the country.
You can recall that the Senate Committee on Industries had said in 2020 that they want SON to return to the ports in the country.
The committee said that standard regulatory bodies the world over are stationed at their countries’ ports to check the quality of goods before they gain entry into their various markets, and that Nigeria should not be an exception.
This was made known to the public when the then Chairman Senate Committee on Industries, late Senator Bayo Osinowo, who was in Lagos to inspect SON’s projects.
He said that it was unfortunate that SON was not at the port even though its enabling law stated that the agency must be at the ports to monitor the standards of products being imported into the country.
They promised to look into the matter, but things have still not changed as at the time of writing this article.
The Director General of Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), Malam Farouk Salim, has urged the Federal Government to allow the agency to return to the country’s ports. He made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recently in Abuja.
He argued that the return would help the organization to effectively monitor and check the influx of substandard products into the country as trading progresses under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
This call is coming from the Director General after a long period of absence from the ports due to the government’s eviction of many government agencies from the ports. The government took the eviction action after it found out that there was a proliferation of agencies at the ports.
It should be recalled that Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the then Minister of Finance and Coordination Minister of the Economy, had in 2011 evicted the agencies.
She did that to ease the processes of doing business at the ports. The ports were at that time bedeviled with congestion, and delays in cargo clearing.
Salim is saying that for the country to effectively curb the influx of substandard products, especially as trade under AfCFTA continues, the SON workforce should be allowed to return to the nation’s ports.
He claimed that in order to ensure that the borders are monitored properly, so as to protect the country from receiving substandard goods from other countries; SON officers should be allowed into the ports.
“Our people can be efficient if we are allowed to work at the point of entry of these goods; but right now we are not allowed at the ports” he said.
He complained that they are allowed once in a while to come in and check goods, but that is not the way it should be because SON should not depend on the generosity of other organizations to do its constitutional work.
He quoted the 2015 Act, Section 7(30b) which says that the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) must be at the port of entry into the country.
The DG noted that although there were other government agencies at the ports, SON has the statutory obligation and the knowledge to identify substandard goods.
He also said that if the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) was given a permanent access for inspection and enforcement of standards at the ports, the menace of substandard goods in the country would be greatly reduced.
He tutored that “what NAFDAC and the customs are doing at the ports are totally different from what SON does”.
SON gets along with them well, but they don’t need to depend on them to do their job, because they are supposed to be in the ports by right, except if the law is changed.
He said that one of the major problems they are having is not having offices in the ports. They requested for a space to build their office but were denied by the authorities of the ports.
The DG explained that they have 1,700 employees across the country, and currently have 42 offices in the country.
You can recall that the Senate Committee on Industries had said in 2020 that they want SON to return to the ports in the country.
The committee said that standard regulatory bodies the world over are stationed at their countries’ ports to check the quality of goods before they gain entry into their various markets, and that Nigeria should not be an exception.
This was made known to the public when the then Chairman Senate Committee on Industries, late Senator Bayo Osinowo, who was in Lagos to inspect SON’s projects.
He said that it was unfortunate that SON was not at the port even though its enabling law stated that the agency must be at the ports to monitor the standards of products being imported into the country.
They promised to look into the matter, but things have still not changed as at the time of writing this article.
