MAN, SON collaborate to fight influx of substandard goods

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) on Tuesday urged industry players to redefine their production processes to align with global standards.

Director-General, SON, Malam Farouk Salim, gave the advice at the 51st Annual General Meeting of MAN in Lagos with the theme: “Standards: An imperative for competitive manufacturing in a continental and Global Market.

Salim lauded manufacturers for playing according to the set standards and supporting the fight against substandard goods to engender competitiveness of Nigeria goods at the international market.

He said the agency would continue to ensure that local manufacturers were protected against the importation of fake and substandard goods circulating in the country.

Salim asserted the agency’s determination to assist businesses and manufacturers to become competitive and successful through the various available standardisation and quality assurance.

“The topic is apt, with the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which would create a new opportunity for African manufacturers to explore new grounds and exerts positive influence.

“This will bring competitiveness and increases the need for industries to improve their standards because countries that adopt standards are growing faster.

“We, however, call for more testing labs from the Federal Government and individuals and we are prepared to collaborate with manufacturers to enhance access to the continental market,” he said.

Salim charged the association to demand its right by insisting on one single tax window to pursue by going to the National Assembly to work out strategies to actualise the development.

Engr. Mansur Ahmed, President, MAN, assured that manufacturers would continue to collaborate with SON and ensure that members not operating according to the set standards were addressed and brought to book.

Ahmed implored the indigenous start-up industries to adhere strictly to standards so as to give their products the required edge in the AfCFTA.

He noted that the manufacturing industry was not where it should be because of its dependence on imported commodities.

“We are weak because we depend on imported goods.

No country survives on importation but on consuming and exporting what they produce,” he said.

Also, Chairman, Apapa Branch, MAN, Mr Frank Onyebu, said the business environment in 2021 was challenging for manufacturing, particularly due to direct fallouts from economic trends.

He said more worrisome was the fact that the key operational challenges identified in the past still haunted the real sector.

He stated that resilience could be the reason most manufacturers within the Apapa axis were still in business in spite of the unabated increase in inputs.

“We are yet to recover from the impact of COVID-19 on the sector.

“Our quest to continue to create jobs for the teaming unemployed youths is threatened with these challenges.

“Job losses are imminent with the supply chain disruptions, scarcity of raw materials, breakdowns in the production chain, internal security, foreign exchange illiquidity, constraints, inflationary pressures, weakening purchasing power, poor public infrastructure, multiple taxations and port-related issues.

“However, these challenges are not only limited to the manufacturing sector.

“This calls for drastic and urgent interventions to caution its effect on the economy by rehabilitating road networks, creating policies that encourage manufacturers and put a lasting solution to the traffic gridlock around the ports and Apapa axis,” he said.

Environmentalist and General Manager, Lagos State Environmental and Protection Agency (LASEPA), Mrs Dolapo Fasawe, hinted that the agency was stepping up plans to reduce harmful emissions from industrial activities.

She added that the agency had reduced the statutory tax of manufacturers by 50 per cent.

She added that industrial waste would continue to be taken care of properly in a sustainable way and recycled. (NAN)