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SON bill passes second reading in Senate

By on December 4, 2014

A bill seeking stiffer punishments for importers of substandard products into Nigeria, scaled second reading in the Senate on Tuesday.

The bill also seeks to repeal and re-enact the standards Organisation of Nigeria Act 2004 for the purpose of providing additional functions for the organisation, increase penalty for violation and other related matters.

The sponsor, Senator Nenadi Usman, explained that the main objective of the bill was to place the SON on a firmer footing to enable Nigeria to fully realise the advantages of standardisation.

Usman noted that since the establishment of SON in 1971, its enabling act had been tinkered with on three occasions by the parliament.

She added that the fundamental reasons for the various changes were the desires to “continually place the organisation in a better position to enable it to discharge its functions effectively.”

Usman said, “The overall objective of the amendment bill is to further enhance the ability of SON to effectively carry out its statutory responsibilities in the areas of procurement process, compulsory product recall, pre-shipment verification of conformity and standard marks.”

She stated that some Federal Government agencies like the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control, Nigerian Communications Commission, and the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, had usurped the primary responsibility of SON.

She also said that by the act establishing SON, it was the custodian and overseer of observance of standards in the country.

She said, “By the act establishing the SON, it is the primary standards body in Nigeria and the focal point and member of the International Organisation for Standardisation.

 

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