by Christiana Gokyo, Jos
Plateau State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mr. Musa Sule, has urged recipients of the Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (MANCAP) of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to maintain standards.
He made the call during the MANCAP Certificate Presentation to awardees, which held on Saturday in Jos.
Our correspondent reports that, MANCAP is a mandatory product certification scheme of SON to ensure that all locally manufactured products in the country conform to the relevant Nigerian Industrial Standards (NIS) before presented for sale in the market or exported.
“It is said that ‘to whom much is given, much is expected.’ We want them to continue to maintain the established standards and not go below it.
“That way, they will grow from domestic production to international where they will be exporting their own products.
“They shouldn’t consider this an end, but the beginning of a process; so, we encourage them to do more and not go below the standards that have already been established,” he said.
Sule called on regulatory bodies to also assist the newly established businesses and upcoming ones to grow by reducing bureaucratic bottlenecks for the business owners.
“Thank God, the Bank of Industry (BOI) was at the program. We want Bank of Industry to come to the aid of the indigenous companies – to encourage them to grow more than where they are.
“I want to plead with all the regulatory agencies to reduce their bureaucratic bottlenecks. Somebody, who has the technical know-how but due to the bureaucratic processes involved might get discouraged.
“So, we want to plead with especially Standards Organisation of Nigeria, if they can reduce the bureaucracy to make the process a bit lighter, so that our team can use, into self sufficiency, creativity, to reduce the redundancy of our youths after graduation,” he said.
Similarly, State Coordinator of SON, Mr Joseph Shawo, urged the recipients to ensure they maintain standards, as SON is always set to revoke licenses of erring businesses, because consumers must be protected against substandard products.
“My advice to the manufacturers, those who have just been certified, is that they should uphold the standard because as I said earlier, this certificate is a ‘loan’ we have given them.
“Once they fall below that quality, we will withdraw the certificate; the consumers need to be protected.
“We have qualified inspectors that go around the manufacturers’ premises to ensure that these standards are enforced,” he stated.
While urging consumers to always look out for the MANCAP logo on products before consuming, he urged them to also report where value is not gotten so as to ensure that quality is maintained in the market.
On their parts, some of the awardees who spoke at the event appreciated SON for the recognition given to their businesses saying that it is a Motivation that will spurr them on to do better and they would ensure they move their businesses higher.
Mrs Shola Otagbo, Manager of Crystal Blossom Household Products, and Mr Arinze Edmonds, CEO Good Life Global Beverages, both expressed enthusiasm on the future of their products.