Stakeholders harp on standards to harness trade relations

Stakeholders in the manufacturing and importation sectors have been advised to ensure that their products meet the regulatory standards set up by the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON).

With the production and importation of substandard goods into the country that has caused more havoc, the People’s Republic of China is collaborating with SON to ensure that products imported reached safety measures.

This was the thrust of discussions a seminar organised by the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China and SON, in Lagos, yesterday. According to the Consul-General of China, Chao Xiaoliang, “China-Nigeria Strategic Partnership has enjoyed great progress in recent years. The bilateral political mutual trust has been increasingly enforced and economic and trade exchanges have been consistently deepened.

“In 2017, the China-Nigeria bilateral trade volume reached $13.78 billion, increasing by 29.7 per cent, among which the import of China from Nigeria reached $1.62 billion and increased by 79.1 per cent than that of 2016.”

He added that Nigeria continued to be the second biggest export market and the third biggest trade partner of China in Africa. However, China-Nigeria economic and trade cooperation also faces some challenges. 

“Some companies, from both Chinese and Nigerian side, don’t fully understand Nigerian goods quality laws and the process of enforcing law in quality-related cases. So cases about product qualities do happen from time to time, bringing bad effects on bilateral economic and trade cooperation to some extent,” he said.

Regional Coordinator South-West, SON, Owoyale Oyenike said that this seminar has afforded participants the opportunity to be grounded in their activities and the relevance of maintaining internal assurance culture.“We not only monitor but ensure manufacturers build the culture of internal assurance, so as an organization we are for the growth of industries. We engage in periodic investigatory visits across the country to check the activities of these industries and also for imported goods.

She added that they are creating awareness for the importers to relief them of wastage, “what is the essence of bringing in goods that will be destroyed. Most of them are ignorant and some are deliberate and fraudulent, but for the Chinese Consulate to want this, they want to straighten trade ties, which is a welcome development.”