From Obinna Odogwu, Awka
Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has issued Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (MANCAP) certificates to 16 companies in Anambra State.
The certificates, it was gathered, cover 36 products which have been scrutinised and certified fit for the local and international markets by the organisation.
Director General of SON, Mallam Salim Farouk, who issued the certificates to the companies in Awka, the state capital, said that the organisation followed the stipulated steps before certifying the companies and their products.
Farouk, represented by the coordinator of the organisation in the state, Mr Onipede Olanrewaju, an engineer, said that MANCAP was a mandatory product certification scheme put in place by the organisation to ensure that locally manufactured products conform to the relevant Nigerian Industrial Standards (NIS) before they’re presented for sale in the market or exported.
“MANCAP was put in place in 2006 and basically, what gave birth to MANCAP was the Standards Organisation of Nigeria Conformity Assessment Programme (SONCAP) which is more for offshore goods.
“We now said that if we have to monitor the goods that come from abroad, what of the ones that are manufactured here. And that was why the issue of MANCAP came in. Earlier before the issue of MANCAP, we have what we call quality NIS.
“The first award, after two years, you will be given a bronze. After consecutively having a good product, the second award will be silver. After another five years, you get gold. After another 10 years, you get a diamond which is peak”, he said.
“MANCAP is a general certification that every manufacturer within the country or every local manufacturer must get for their products. It tells people about your product; it tells people outside what your product is all about. It shows that your product has passed through the test of time.
“You all know what you passed through before you obtain the certificate. So, I want to congratulate all of you here; whether you are here for a fresh certificate or a revalidation.
“And I need to put this one across to us that our certificate is on loan. Anytime we find out that the product is not meeting up with the quality, the organisation has the powers to withdraw the certificate.
“It has never happened in Anambra and I know it will never happen here. So, I want to encourage those of us that are just coming to the stage; the work has just started.
“Don’t go and relax. You need to work more so that when revalidation starts after three years; your products can still stand the test of time and your products will still remain of quality they used to be”, he added.
The director, Anambra region, Don-Pedro Papaye, who read out the Director General’s welcome address, re-emphasised the need for the continued production of quality goods, saying that SON would not hesitate to withdraw the certificate of any company found wanting in any way.