SON advocates Quality Management System

By Sola Oluwadare, Lagos - updated: Tuesday 03-02-2009

Achike Udenwa,
Minister of CommerceThe Director General of Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Dr. John Akanya, has pointed out that for the economy to thrive on export in the present day competitive domestic and world markets and still exploit international trade and intra community trade opportunities, there is the need for the establishment of quality management system that is customer focused.

Akanya, who spoke through the Task Force Secretary (ECOWAS) SON, Marlin Waziri, in a paper presented at a forum in Lagos, said SON was encouraging the identification of the relevant products standards, Nigerian Industrial Standard (NIS) and standard/specification of the exporting countries of interest and also the production and packaging in compliance with the requirements of the relevant standards.

He urged exporters to ensure the quality of their products through effective laboratory analysis, provide adequate resources, and get product certification and system certification.

The acting Executive Director of Nigerian Export promotion Council (NEpC), Mr A. M. Lawal, in his submission, said the organisation had embarked on new product development in the areas of coconut, sesame seed, among others.

He said NEpC, in collaboration with other export stakeholders, had continued to pursue the achievement of reduction of the pre-export shipment inspection fee of one per cent to 0.05 per cent, an unrestricted access to export proceeds generated by exporters, recertification of Nigerian shrimp for export to United States by US authorities.

Other strategies to overhaul the situation of things at the port include “reduction in the congestion of time for export at Lagos port, re designing of the export expansion grant scheme, transparent rule based on orderly and secure visa certification for ethnic printed Nigerian fabrics to US market duty free.”

Also speaking at the occasion, the Director General of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Mr. Lawrence Adekunle, lamented the mono product nature of the economy which had made it difficult for it to experience meaningful economic progress over the years.

Adekunle said it was unfortunate that the economy was heavily import-dependent, both for industrial raw materials and finished products, adding that the implication of this on scarce foreign exchange was grave, resulting in huge debt profile, unfavourable balance of payment, weak industrial base, poverty, and underdevelopment.

“In realisation of this, government since 1980s decided to make policies to promote exports, as a way of redressing the structural imbalance in the economy, as well as to put the economy on a track of growth and development.”

He said further that the emergence of oil in the economy since the early 1970s, making the sector the major contributor to government revenue as well as foreign exchange earnings, led to the neglect of the other sectors of the economy, and therefore created serious structural imbalance in the economy.

“Often, the ability of a nation to generate foreign exchange determines the strength of the nation’s currency and of the economy, especially where the sources of the foreign exchange are from diverse sources, and not from a single product as is the case in Nigeria,” he stressed.

He maintained that “equally, no account was taken of the raw material needs of domestic industries, even where it was clear that the supplies of such raw materials could not be increased in the short run. The effect of this led to shortages of locally produced raw materials for domestic processing of manufacturing industries, as was the case with cocoa processing industries.

In addition, the policy failed to realise that most of the country’s current manufacturing outfits grew out of the policy of import substitution, and they are therefore, not geared for export promotion. The desire to export manufactured goods therefore became a mirage.’

According to him the non-oil export promotion is an economic task that should no longer attract mere lip service, saying specific programmes, assigning definite responsibilities to the banks, are now overdue.