Importers of second-hand vehicles will now have to get the Standards Organisation of Nigeria Conformity Assessment Programme (Soncap) before they can bring them into the country, according to Dr. Joseph Odumodu, director-general of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (Son). Dr. Odumodu said that the measure is designed to save Nigerians from hazardous chemicals that are injurious to health and environment.
Soncap is designed to prevent the importation of sub-standard and fake products into the country. With a rapidly expanding market for imports in Nigeria and to help fulfill its responsibility to protect Nigerian consumers, Son introduced some stringent and clear guidelines to ensure that imported products comply with applicable standards.
“All over the country, we have different kinds and grades of used vehicles with killer emission levels, and this we have to reduce at acceptable levels of safety. To some people, these emissions may seem innocuous, but when you do the chemical analysis, you find that several Nigerians are inhaling fumes of very dangerous dimensions with dire health consequences”, said Odumodu, who spoke during an interaction with the media last week.
Since the 80s when the economy nosedived and people’s purchasing power dwindled, there has been an increase in the demand for imported partially used cars and parts in Nigeria’s automobile industry. And though government has on several occasions imposed a ban on the importation of cars above eight years of age to curb the influx of old automobiles into the country, these cars are still found in quantum on roads across the country.
Odumodu said, “The federal government policy for used vehicles prescribed only age restrictions. We shall not attempt to change that. However, as a result of several complaints from a cross section of Nigerians, we have elaborated standards for used vehicles where we have specified safer levels for a number of hazardous chemicals that are injurious to health and/or the environment. When this new policy commences, we shall work with National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (Nesrea), National Automobile Council (NAC) and Central Bank of Nigeria to ensure full compliance.”
Also, as   part  of the  effort  to  rid the country  of  substandard products, the standards  regulatory agency   will  come  up with massive standardisation regime  in 2012. This will widen the scope of standardization in the country just as effort will be made to enlighten Nigerians on the danger posed.
Odumodu said, “Our target is to elaborate or adopt about 2,000 standards this year covering all aspects of our lives - covering oil and gas, service sector, telecommunication and airlines. We shall lay more emphasis on the service sector in hotels ratings and telecom call quality.”
He also said that the Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (Mancap) shall be reviewed to meet the present day reality for manufacturing for Nigerian market.  Because, according to him, at the end of the day, it would further help in sanitising the sector and give every genuine player opportunity of a fair playing ground. Mancap is aimed at ensuring that all locally manufactured products conform to relevant Nigeria Industrial Standards (NIS), before they are presented to consumers.
 “One major element of this review is to focus on the processes, input material, people skills and internal systems rather than on finished products quality. We shall facilitate collaboration to improve industrial capacity and products’ quality standards”, he said.