SON, NFIU collaborate to tackle fake products importation

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has brokered a partnership with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to tackle the menace of fake products in the country.

The Director-General, SON, Malam Farouk Salim, at a sensitisation programme in Lagos, warned that it would no longer be business as usual for purveyors of fake and sub-standard products in the country.

The sensitisation programme was themed, “the use of crime record information management system as a tool to fight the influx of fake/sub-standard products and other related crimes in Nigeria.’’

Salim, represented by the Director, Inspectorate and Compliance, SON, Dr. Omolara Okunola, said the partnership would greatly checkmate the high incidence of financially-related crimes, especially the influx of counterfeit products into the country.

He lauded the efforts of the NFIU to support the standards body towards the effective discharge of the agency’s statutory mandate.

The director-general stated that the agency would get its staff properly trained on special applications to fight crime and get rid of counterfeited, fake and sub-standard products coming into the country.

“Our core mandate is to ensure that products and services locally made or imported into Nigeria meet standards and quality benchmarks in line with global best practices.

“You know, before you can do anything either in production or services, you need to gather the necessary data.

“And that is why this intervention by NFIU comes in handy for us to do documentation, intelligence reports to detect and track dubious importers and fraudsters.

“The collaboration would go a long way to unmask the hidden hands backing importation of substandard goods into the country.

“This would in turn help check the menace of fake products across the country,’’ Salim said.

The Chief Executive Officer, NFIU, Modibbo HammahTukur, disclosed that the influx of fake and sub-standard products into the country would be controlled via effective collaborative efforts and information sharing among the relevant government agencies.

HammahTukur said NFIU was the central body in Nigeria responsible for receiving, requesting, analysing and disseminating financial intelligence reports on money laundering, terrorist financing and other relevant information.

Represented by a Senior Intelligence Analyst at the NFIU, Dr Bello Abdulhaziz, he said the collaboration would help SON to flag suspicious products at the borders for further investigation.

“We are poised to collaborate with all stakeholders in analysing and providing credible and actionable information to put an end to the influx of substandard products,” he said.

The sensitisation programme is expected to be conducted in other major cities such as Abuja, Kano and Port-Harcourt for relevant SON staff.