Sale Of Substandard Products To Attract N1m Fine – SON
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has warned against the sale of substandard products as the offence will henceforth attract a penalty of N1m.
The Director General, SON, Osita Aboloma, who stated this, noted that it was part of the provisions of the SON Act No. 14 of 2015.
Aboloma, who spoke in Kano at a stakeholders’ forum on the impact of the SON Act on consumers and businesses, noted that the previous laws under which the organisation operated did not provide commensurate sanctions against offenders.
He was represented at the forum by the Kano State Coordinator, Yunusa Mohammed.
According to him, the new law has provided an enabling environment for the organisation and makes provision for suspected substandard products to be promptly removed from circulation while verification tests are being conducted.
The 2015 Act also provide for greater sanctions for purveyors of substandard products unlike provisions of previous repealed acts.
Faithful implementation of the new Act will guarantee increased sales to genuine manufacturers and importers, he said.
He pointed out that there were provisions in the Act, which manufacturers, importers and other stakeholders must acquaint themselves with so as to ensure necessary sensitisation and collaboration in the campaign against substandard products.
Aboloma added that only businessmen with unscrupulous tendencies had reasons to fear the implementation of the new Act which among others allows SON to remove substandard products wherever they are found without any restraint, including judicial intervention for up to 90 days.
Also speaking at the forum, Vice President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Kano, Ali Madugu, enthused that everyone was a consumer and a stakeholder in the campaign against substandard products.
He said, “From SON to the average Nigerian, we are all consumers and are in the best position to spread the news. So a forum like this is part of the engagement.
“Nigerians must all appreciate the consequences of the patronage of substandard products to the safety of lives and property. We should be our brothers’ keepers”, he said.
