The Director-General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Osita Aboloma has announced the parastatal’s decision to remove its Product Registration Certificate (PRC) required for clearing cargoes at the nation’s point of entry.
Aboloma explained that the new development was in line with the present administration’s ease of doing business mandate.
According to him, the initiative commences on the 1st, November 2018, and is expected to curb the excesses of corrupt officials who take advantage of the PRC to constitute an unnecessary delay of cargoes at the port.
The SON boss at a nationwide awareness programme to sensitise members of the Auto Spare Parts and Machinery Dealers Association (ASPMDA) in Lagos on dangers of substandard products in circulation, stated that PRC is still part of its minimum requirements that have to be met by both importers and manufacturers of goods, stressing that the removal from cargo clearance was to fast-track cargo processes.
He stated the agency has also gone as far as reducing all its fees to encourage local producers while also attracting Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) into the country.
In his words, “The fight against the influx of substandard goods is continuous and as you can see, we have to bring the fight to the biggest market in West Africa. We are here to get the buy-in of importers and distributors in a bid to agree to work together as a team to curb the influx of substandard life-endangering auto spare parts into Nigeria.”
What you need to know about SON’s products registration
Product Registration is a procedure that allows SON to make an inventory of all products imported into the country for sale. This is based on a Federal Government’s directive and has already been in place for a long time. It used to be done manually but, since the 20th of February, 2013, it has been converted to an e-Product Registration.
The importance of Product Registration is to guarantee transparency and traceability during the import process.
There should be a link to SON products registration page