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LCCI advises govt on SON, NAFDAC functions

By BusinessNews Staff on August 30, 2014

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry has called on the Federal Government to develop a framework for the oversight and control of regulatory institutions in order to curb probable excesses in their activities.

The chamber said this was in line with the best practices in many emerging markets across the globe.

It said in a communiqué issued after a joint study it conducted alongside the Centre for International Private Enterprise on the impact of regulatory agencies on business in the country, “On the immediate, government should adequately fund the agencies and provide them with the necessary working facilities, including equipped laboratories across the country, because the current poor funding levels of the agencies serves as a compelling ground for them to extort the companies.

“On the medium term, the overlapping functions and scope of the two agencies (Standards Organisation of Nigeria and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control) suggests that the government should take steps to remove the overlap.”

The LCCI said public regulatory agencies had continued to be riddled with red tape and bureaucracy, resulting in a complex web of unclear and frequently-changing regulations.

The report of the study stated, “Such an environment not only makes it difficult for entrepreneurs to do business, but also allows for arbitrary and inconsistent enforcement of laws and regulations by government agencies. In a bid to avoid the red tape, private sector operators often find themselves in compromising positions, which causes most companies to suffer from higher and unnecessary costs, inefficiency, and unfriendly business climate.

[Punch]

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