SON Mulls New Measures To Stop Fake Products
Mohammed Shosanya
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON),will soon launch its Product Authentication Mark (PAM) sticker designed to check the inflow of fake, sub-standard and Counterfeiting goods imported into the country.
Mallam Farouk Salim, Director General and Chief Executive(SON),who announced this at a stakeholders sensitisation programme on Product Authentication Mark (PAM) in Lagos,said over 20 security features sticker would solve the prevailing challenges experienced as a result of dishonesty on the part of fraudulent importers and manufacturers of products.
A statement signed by the Director of Public Relations,SON,Mrs.Foluso Bolaji,quoted Salim, as saying that the agency had introduced the Conformity Assessment Programme which is meant for imported goods into Nigeria to make sure that goods coming into Nigeria are certified before they reach its market.
“SON introduced the SONCAP to ensure the quality of products in our markets that we will be proud of as consumers while the merchants of fake products will continue to flood the market with substandard items.
“We also introduced for the locally manufactured goods the MANCAP in order not to be seen by the International Community as creating a trade barrier so that imported goods cannot come into our country especially with Nigeria being a signatory to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“With this imported product will be certified and given the Product Authentication Mark (PAM) and it will be in our market,” he said.
Salim,while reminding the stakeholders that a sister agency, the National Agency for Drug and Food Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has similar sticker for drugs, only noted that despite the PAM scheme covering all SON regulated products both locally manufactured and imported,it would be made voluntary to locally manufacturers but advised them to key into the scheme in order to keep Nigeria safe and strong.
“The sticker is not mandatory for the locally manufactured products for now, we are making it voluntary for them as I believe if they see the beauty of the PAM and the security it brings to their products, most of them will embrace it in due time.
“PAM will also protect genuine manufacturers and importers from faking and counterfeiting of their certified product as well as promote a level playing field in the market for both locally manufactured and imported products certified by SON,” he said.
Speaking, Mr. Enebi Onucheyo,
Deputy Director, Product Certification, said arising from rampant application of the mark on non- certified products, SON decided to control the printing of the mark as well as improve its security features through physical and digital technology.
“PAM will fortify the authenticity of SON certified products belonging to genuine manufacturers and importers by providing a level playing field for imported and locally manufactured products.
“It will also ensure value for money to both consumers and manufacturers by diminishing the negative effects of faking, cloning and counterfeiting of SON certified products.PAM wil further help consumers to identify genuine and certified SON regulated products,”he said.