SON THREATENS TO CLOSE DOWN SACHET WATER FACTORIES

Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) has threatened to close down sachet water factories in Kogi State, if the producers continue to disallow its officials from carrying out comprehensive laboratory analysis on their products before they are offered to the public . The state head of the organization, Edward Daudu, gave the warning on Wednesday when speaking with newsmen in his office.

Daudu said the warning became imperative because Sachet Water Producers Association in the state had been employing all manners of tricks to disallow his men from conducting analysis on their products as they feigned ignorance of the existence of its organization in the state.

He said SON was established in 1971 by an enabling decree to monitor, among other things, products produced in the country and those imported to ensure they conformed with international standard.

He said the mandatory conformity assessment programme (MANCAP) put in place by the organization since January 2000 was to ensure that all locally manufactured products conformed to the relevant Nigerian Industrial Standard (NIS) before such products were presented for sale in the Nigerian market in line with the enabling Act N0 56 OF 1971 as amended.

The SON boss said the programme was aimed at protecting consumers from locally manufactured substandard or unsafe products which did not meet the minimum requirements of relevant N I S, and to generate confidence that made-in -Nigeria products provide value for money. Answering a question on whether SON and NAFDAC had overlapping functions, he said while the latter dealt with drugs and foods and to find out whether such products were harmful to human health, SON had wider scope as it regulated quality of all products produced and imported into the country.

According to him, SON ensured that the components on the label of products claimed by the producers were truly tested and ascertained. Daudu, therefore, called on all producers of local products in the state to ensure they cooperated with his officials or face the wrath of the law.