The Standards Organisation of Nigeria is seeking an amendment to its Act to go beyond just fines to providing jail terms against anyone caught with fake or counterfeit products.
The organisation is also in talks with state governments to strengthen the capacity of micro, small and medium scale enterprises, MSMEs.
Its Director General, Farouk Salim, made these remarks at a news conference to unveil activities marking the 50th anniversary of the agency.
After fifty years in existence bit is only proper for an organisation to take a moment to take stock of its journey thus far.
This is with a view to charting a new course for improved strides.
This World News Conference kick-starts activities marking the Fifty years of Nigeria’s standards agency.
Its evolution began with the creation of the National Standards Organisation as a department of the Federal Ministry of Industry in 1970.
By 1971, decree No 56 transformed the department into a full-fledged organisation with the mandate to establish standards for production and processes of goods and services.
Farouk Salim, along with some of his directors in the agency, take a retrospective look at how well the organisation has evolved, its success stories and challenges in the last half a century.
He says the agency has so far received the go ahead of five states to help in strengthening their MSMEs.
They are Katsina, Benue, Sokoto, Jigawa and Cross River states.
He says intense sensitisation of consumers on effects of fake or substandard products, return of SON to Ports, approval of 168 new Standards for publication, approval of 213 new Nigeria Industrial standards and a strategic plan for 2021-2024 are few of the agency’s success stories.
The agency is also seeking an amendment to its Act to make provision for jail terms along with fines, in order to discourage counterfeiting, fake and substandard
