The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) says it has removed N2.7 billion worth of sub-standard products from the Nigerian market since it launched its zero tolerance campaign.
The Director-General of SON, Dr Joseph Odumodu,? made the announcement while briefing newsmen in Abuja on Monday.
According to Odumodu, the products range from cables, toys, tyres, automatic voltage regulators among others.
He said the organisation had issued a two-week ultimatum to marketers to remove sub-standard products from the markets or face prosecution.
“By the end of July, it would be the end of the two-weeks we gave marketers, we have taken samples to laboratories and nobody can stop us.
“We are collaborating with relevant agencies to make it difficult for dealers on sub-standard products to thrive and we have the support of the president and the minister. ’’
Odumodu said the organisation had sent a bill to the National Assembly to enable it to have prosecutorial powers, adding that SON's efforts would not end in confiscation of fake products.
The SON boss regretted that foreigners were conniving with some Nigerians to ship sub-standard products into the country, adding that the organisation was working to check that.
According to him, efforts are being made to protect Nigerian manufacturers and empower them to compete with their foreign counterparts.
“We are giving locally manufactured products the opportunity to compete favourably with those that come from outside.
“A lot of fake cables have been removed from the markets; our cable manufacturers are doing well and our cables are rated the best in the world. ’’
Odumodu said that by September, products coming into Nigeria would go through a revised Standards Organisation of Nigeria Conformity Assessment Programme (SONCAP).
He explained that SONCAP was designed in such a way that all products must have a code which could be used to track it to the importer and manufacturer.
It will be recalled that SON had warned traders in the FCT to remove sub-standard products in the market within two weeks or face prosecution.
The warning was handed down by Odumodu at a Market? Enlightenment/Sensitisation Seminar held in Abuja on June 28.