Its Director-General, Dr Joseph Odumodu, who made this known at the weekend in Lagos, said once the Bill is passed to law, the agency will be able to start criminal proceedings against offenders.
He said the agency lacks the power to prosecute importers of sub-standard products into the country. The SON, he said, is facing a big challenge in eliminating sub-standard products because SON is only allowed to arrest suspects and handle them over the police. This, he explained, has raised great potential risks for the country’s campaign against sub-standard products.
He said 70 per cent of goods manufactured in the country, especially items such as iron rods and cables were substandard.
Odumodu said it was difficult to test imported products because the agency lacks globally accredited laboratories to test products, which had international mark of quality.
Consequently, the Director-General said the agency cannot say that certain products, which claim international quality were not in conformance with the requirements of the relevant standards.
To prevent dumping, Odumodu said the SON is demanding that importers bring in products that have certificates of free use within the originating country, adding that the mark identifies a product as a reliable product of acceptable quality to be trusted by consumers and buyers alike thereby improving market confidence.
On why the nation’s steel products manufacturing industry was not competitive enough, he noted that a significant manufacturing units were producing rods that are substandard. This substandard products, Odumodu further explained, is responsible for building collapse.
He added, however, that building collapse have been linked not only to substandard rods but also to poor mixture of concrete. For this reason, he said the agency would eliminate substandard rods by the end of June.
On energy saving bulbs, Odumodu said most of them were of poor quality and have elements that can caused environment hazards.
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