Recession: Substandard products flood market
The influx of substandard goods, especially fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) in the market, has reached an
alarming rate with authorities expressing worries and concerns that this may further erode the already battered
economy.
Thus the Director General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Dr Paul Angya, has called for the
establishment of a system that could support SON to watch list substandard products in the ports and borders,
pointing out that failure to address the upsurge headlong, would be detrimental to the economy of the country.
He said the nation was fighting another form of war against substandard products, even as he emphasised that
SON would need the support of an institution like the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to attain success in “fighting
the war.”
While making a clarion call for action, the SON boss said: “Our mandate and what we do is very important for
people living quality and fulfilled life. People can only live a quality life if there are quality goods in the market.
Our job affects people’s lives. That is why we need collaboration from the Customs because they are the first
point of call of importation. Now is a very challenging time in our history and we must lay emphasis on quality
and standard.”
Growing worries over products counterfeiting
Counterfeit products are unauthorised imitations of branded goods intended to be passed off for an original with
the purpose of defrauding or deceiving the consumer of the said product into believing that it is the original
product.
In the opinions of experts, the incidence of substandard goods has outrun the economy of the country. The havoc
they wreak on the nation’s economy is unimaginable.
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