PHCCIMA tasks SON on prosecution of importers of fake products 

President, Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (PHCCIMA), Mike Elechi, has urged the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and other regulatory bodies to ensure the prosecution of importers of fake and substandard products into the country.

Elechi, who made the call while speaking as a guest during sensitisation organised by SON in Port Harcourt, yesterday, said consumers are going through difficulties due to the activities of fake importers, who have flooded the country with fake and substandard products.

He emphasised that SON and other related agencies must, as a matter of urgency, devise strategies on how to tackle the menace of fake products to rekindle confidence in products and services Nigerians patronise. 

Earlier in his address, the SON Director General/Chief Executive Officer, Farouk Salim, explained that the organisation is mandated by Act No 14 of 2015 to register, certify and regulate products for retail in Nigeria.

Salim noted that the sensitisation was another strategy of discouraging importation of substandard products into the country, explaining that Product Authentication Mark (PAM) was introduced to ensure authenticity and traceability of SON regulated products.

The SON DG also called on investors, consumers and other stakeholders to support the agency’s effort to restore the public confidence in SON-regulated products.

Also, Director, Product Certification, Shaibu Onucheyo, urged consumers to assist SON in conducting checks before buying products in the market. He noted that the introduction of PAM would provide an online platform for consumers to authenticate the validity of certification of SON’s regulated products before purchase and thus have value for their money.  He said it would also give protection to genuine products on sale in the market.

“Without patronage, producers of substandard, fake, cloned and counterfeited products would have no market for their products. Importers are advised to apply and acquire the sticker from SON,” he said.