15 heavy duty trucks and containers stuffed with assorted products that are sub-standard have been intercepted and seized by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) in Lagos.
The seized vehicles were conveying assorted imported products ranging from auto parts, head lamps, motor cycle types, generators, water pumps, motor spare parts, brake pads, screen/security doors, bulbs, tyres, gear light and others.
Conducting newsmen round the seized vehicles on Wednesday, SON’s Head of Inspectorate and Compliance, Engr. Bede Obayi disclosed that SON officials intercepted the vehicles at various points following a tip off.
Obayi said the products have been seized due to non-conformity to set standards.
He explained that some of the imported goods carried SON’s labels though without certification or the agency’s Conformity Assessment Programme SONCAP registration on them, meaning that they have been smuggled into the country.
According to Obayi, the Director-General of SON, Dr. Joseph Odumodu, gave importers enough time for e-product registration as well as to obtain SONCAP certificate, regretting that unscrupulous elements are bent on endangering lives and property by shipping in fake and counterfeit products into the country.
Obayi said importers of the impounded products have been on the run because “they know what they have done.”
“We have said it times without number that if you want to import, please come to SON for guidelines and procedures,” he stated.
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