The Director General of Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Malam Farouk Salim, has lamented the absence of the agency at the nation’s ports,urging the Federal Government to allow its return to effectively check the influx of substandard products into the country.
Salim, who noted that the fight against substandard goods was best fought at the points of entry, made the remark during seizure of over N600 million worth of tyres that could not pass prerequisite safety standards test at a warehouse in Ogun State. The DG pointed out that the confiscation was not punitive, but to ensure that the tyres did not find their way into the nation’s markets. He explained that the tyres were stuffed in over 100 containers, noting that by that, the integrity of the tyres had been compromised.
“This is a very dangerous situation because people’s lives are at stake and our roads are not safe because of something like this. “We have no idea how these tyres got into this country; we are not at the ports and it did not come through us and they do not have papers with us that the goods have been cleared,” he lamented.
According to him, had the SON been at the ports, there was no way the entry of about 100 containers would have eluded the eyes of its men. “It is a very dangerous trend and this is why we are still emphasising that the best way to enforce it is to be at the point of entry. This is why about 100 containers slipped through the ports and ended up in the warehouse.”