From David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi
The Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) has given Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (MANCAP) certificates to six companies and also revalidated certification of four others in Nnewi zone, Anambra State.
Companies in the category of MANCAP certificates presentation were are Sky Aluminum Products Limited; Goldroff Apex Aluminum Industry Company Limited; Safety Industry Limited; Adswitch PLC; City King Nigeria Wire & Cable Limited, and Peterben Nigeria Limited.
Others in the category of MANCAP certification revalidation award are Bela Cosmetics; Seahorse Lubricants Industry Limited; Safety Industry Limited, and First Express Aluminum Company Limited.
The event which took place at the Nnewi office of the agency Wednesday witnessed a total of nine companies present for the exercise.
Addressing the participants, the Anambra State Office II Co-ordinator, Mr Ogbuji Michael said it was the second time of SON MANCAP certificate presentation since the inception of the office there.
Michael who represented the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the SON, Mallam Farouk Salim said that the exercise was in continuation of the SON’s mission to promote consumers’ confidence and global competitiveness of made-in-Nigeria products through standardization and quality assurance.
“MANCAP certification is very essential in propelling industrial growth. Industrial players must, therefore, standardize their products to meet the quality assurance laid down rules. This has to be so especially with the recent push by World Trade Organization (WTO) for the removal of trade barriers, and the signing of African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) in order to enable free movement of goods and services within the member countries.
“The implication is that standardized products can find market anywhere within these nations, while non-standardized products will not be allowed anywhere close to those nations.
“SON through the MANCAP schemes and other conformity assessment programmes has ensured strict adherence to standards. There’s, thus, urgent need for industrial players to strictly adhere to standardization and MANCAP certification to improve their business sectors so as to promote Nigerian products in the international markets, ” he said.
He declared that it was expedient for products to be standardized to be able to access more markets, thereby growing the nation’s industries.
He urged all the stakeholders who were yet to key into the MANCAP scheme of SON to avail themselves of the opportunities of the programme to certify their products. He added that in a short time, any product that was not certified would not be allowed to be sold in the Nigerian market.
He said that those already in the market that did not have the MANCAP logo should be withdrawn.
He commended the awardees for taking the giant stride, according to him, in ensuring that their products were certified.
“I wish also to advise you to nurture and preserve the certificates by ensuring that they continued to maintain quality of their products and continued to improve on them.
He warned them against the abuse of the MANCAP number and logo, saying that those were the conditions that could make SON to withdraw the MANCAP certificates.
All the awardees pledged that they would not go against the purpose for which the certificates were awarded.
