LAGOS/Nigeria: The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has certified 449 products manufactured by 117 companies in Lagos under its Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (MANCAP).
A total of 207 certificates were presented to the companies at a ceremony in Lagos on Wednesday, as the standards agency renewed its emphasis on compliance with Nigerian Industrial Standards.
The Director-General of SON, Dr Ifeanyi Okeke, represented at the event by the agency’s Director, Mrs Teresa Ojomo, said MANCAP was established to ensure that products manufactured locally met the required standards before reaching consumers or being exported.
He said certification was not the end of the compliance process, explaining that SON would continue to inspect factories, collect samples and conduct laboratory tests to determine whether certified products remained compliant.
Okeke said the certificates would be valid for three years, but warned that certification could be suspended or withdrawn where products failed to maintain the required standards.
According to him, adherence to the certification requirements could help manufacturers improve production efficiency, strengthen product quality and compete more effectively in domestic and international markets.
The SON State Coordinator for Lagos Office II, Maryrose Ugwueche, said the certification exercise was also intended to help consumers identify products that had undergone the organisation’s conformity assessment process.
She explained that certified products carry a unique SON certification mark and number, which consumers can use as an indication that the products have been assessed against the relevant standards.
Ugwueche said greater awareness of the certification mark could also encourage consumers to patronise compliant local manufacturers.
One of the beneficiaries, Abiola Falowo, Managing Director of MAEG Production Factory Limited, said the certification gave his company additional confidence that its tissue and toilet-roll products had met the required standards.
Falowo said the company uses imported virgin pulp in its production process and does not use bleach or chemicals that could compromise the quality of its products.
Another recipient, Samson Oyejide of Somotex Nigeria Limited, said MANCAP provided an important quality benchmark for manufacturers and consumers.
He said the certification system could help consumers distinguish products that had met established standards from those whose quality had not been verified.
The latest certification exercise forms part of SON’s continuing efforts to improve compliance among local manufacturers and strengthen consumer confidence in products made in Nigeria.
