SON mulls standards to drive local manufacturing of LPG cylinders
To discourage importation of sub-standard liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has unveiled strategies to deploy instruments of standardisation and quality assurance to encourage local production and checking influx of such goods in to the country.
The Director General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Osita Aboloma stated that standardisation is one of the best ways of attracting foreign direct investment into the country and sustaining them, while providing confidence and competitive edge to manufacturers’ products, as well as quality assurances to consumers.
According to him, the pursuit of this objective was informed by the outcome of his recent visits to some firms while advocating adoption of standard procedures as well as the benefits of such standards on their operations and competitiveness.
Aboloma noted that SON’s stringent procedure for the importation of LPG cylinders has encouraged increase in local production, adding that the certification of locally produced cylinders through the mandatory conformity assessment (MANCAP) scheme would provide the necessary assurances to consumers, thus encouraging greater patronage.
“There is strict monitoring and regulation of cylinders to ensure safety and that consumers have value for their money”, he added.The SON Director General stated that the increased patronage will lead to improved capacity utilisation and create more job opportunities for our teeming youths in line with the diversification agenda of the Federal Government.
“The LPG cylinder sector has huge potential for job creation because of the production and ancillary chains. It will also create easy access to cylinders, which would add greater value to the economy and promote a cleaner environment,’’ he said.
He disclosed that SON was going to call a stakeholders’ meeting with existing manufacturers, importers and prospective ones to ensure that the structure and production processes are put on the path of continual improvement through the diligent application of standards.
Aboloma reiterated the plans of his organization to replicate the initiative in so many other sectors to encourage more foreign direct investment, noting that domestic production would aid the realisation of current administration’s change mantra, especially in achieving economic diversification from oil into agriculture and manufacturing, thus adding greater value to the lives of Nigerians.
According to the SON boss, the government was happy with companies having thousands of Nigerians under their employ, and would support such companies to do their legitimate businesses without stress.
The SON boss reiterated his Management’s resolve to strengthen the operations of small and medium enterprises, saying with the application of the right standards, products of Nigerian SMEs would become more competitive locally and across borders. He promised to expand the opportunity for testing of more agriculture and agro-allied products in SON’s accredited laboratories.
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1 Comments
This would be great for the LPG industry that Nigeria really needs to encourage and support. This is the first step, the next step is to financially support it and market it.
We will review and take appropriate action.