Following the Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme, MANCAP embarked upon by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, the authorities have resolved to close down businesses owned by non-certified producers.
MANCAP is an initiative of SON which started in 2006 as a standard measure, which entails that all products made in Nigeria must be in line with the relevant Nigerian Industrial Standards, before they will be allowed to sell them or even send them to other countries.
This intention was made known over the weekend by the Director-General of SON, Dr Joseph Odumodu, heavily represented by the agency’s Director of Operations, Mr. Nelson Adebiyi, at the opening ceremony of the event titled, “The Walk for Standards” which was organized to commemorate the 2014 World Standards Day in Abuja.
According to Odumodu, the agency had fully started acting according to the dictates of the MANCAP in Nigeria.
He said: “I wish to use the occasion of World Standard Day 2014 them Standard Level the Playing Field, to urge all local manufacturers and assemblies to cooperate in getting their products certified.
“The process is designed to assist them implement the requirements of relevant standards from raw materials to the finished products with a view to offering quality products that offer value for money to consumers.”
Furthermore, Odumodu, while giving an enlightenment of what the MANCAP certification entails revealed that locally made products will be given almost the same conformity processes with products imported from other countries, Vanguard reports stated.
Also, Odumodu made it known that SON will work extremely hard to see that manufacturers that do not have a certification will be closed down by MANCAP. Adding that the already closed down businesses will be permitted to resume only if they get certified.
“When we identify such defaulters, we close down their factories immediately. Once we confirm that the products are not up to the requirement of the standard, or the specification, we close them down immediately.
“If they are the cooperative types, we work with them, tell them what to do until they get it right. But if they are the ones that will want to remain recalcitrant, the law of the nation will deal with them,” Odumodu said.
