By Bimbola Oyesola
The Director General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, Mr. Osita Aboloma, has pledged his agency’s commitment to promoting the ease of doing businessin the country.
Aboloma, who made this assertion during a working visit of the Acting Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Mrs. Yetunde Oni, to his office, stated that SON is supporting the growth of local industries in the food and beverages, among other sectors, through the diligent application of standards and continual quality assurance programmes.
According to him, once the industries show evidence of registration with NAFDAC, they get concessions ranging from exemption from service charges, product registration fees to waivers in importation of raw materials and machinery.
The SON boss added that his organisation had a Memorandum of Understanding with the Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (MAN) detailing concessions to bonafide members, stressing that the document is currently undergoing review by a joint committee of the two organizations to reflect current realities of the economy.
He stated that SON and NAFDAC should work together to improve on the synergy between them in order to actualize the directive of the Vice President to certify Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)throughout the country within two months of receiving applications from them.
The standards czar asserted that great opportunities abound in strengthening the collaboration between the two agencies with sincerity of purpose and constant communication as the watchword.
Speaking earlier, Mrs. Oni commended the enormous collaboration that exists between the two agencies and appealed for proper handling of areas of overlap in functions, in the interest of the economic emancipation of the nation.
She described the relationship between the two agencies as a relay race that requires the optimum performance of each member of the team for success, stressing that standards development and regulation are like twins working for a common goal of well-being of the populace.