Calls For Quality Hand sanitizers, washing lotions

Osita Aboloma, DG, SON

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has raised a red alert on the discovery of suspected substandard Toyota brand of engine oil in the Nigerian market.

SON Director-General, Osita Aboloma, in a statement in Abuja, on Friday disclosed that the suspected substandard engine oil was discovered through the agency’s regular market surveillance in its 42 offices nationwide.

Aboloma noted that the imported product had neither undergone the organisation’s offshore conformity assessment process, nor was it registered with the agency for traceability and quality verification.

He stated that the Toyota brand of engine oil was being sold in One litre and Four litre containers to unsuspecting Nigerian consumers.

It stated that the suspected substandard product had no close or remote relationship with the Toyota brands of automobile or the manufacturers.

SON’s Director of Compliance, Obiora Manama, advised Nigerians to avoid patronage of the Toyota brand of engine oil in the meantime.

Manama noted that the agency’s operatives were on the trail of other uncertified and unregistered brands of engine oil in the Nigerian market for necessary regulatory action.

He advised the general public to patronise only certified Made-in-Nigeria brands of engine oil with the MANCAP logo and imported brands that had undergone the agency’s offshore conformity assessment process and are duly registered for traceability and quality verification.

The director of compliance warned that all purveyors of substandard and life-threatening products would be prosecuted in line with the provisions of the SON Act 14 of 2015 and the Criminal Code, once apprehended.

He kicked against the importation of poor quality products into Nigeria to engage in unfair competition with high quality, certified, Made-in- Nigeria brands.

Quality Hand Sanitizers/Hand Lotions

In a related development, SON has also warned  manufacturers  of hand sanitisers and liquid hand wash, to adhere strictly to global best practises  to avoid sanctions by the Agency.

SON notes that  the importance of quality hand sanitisers cannot be overemphasised at a time when the world was  on the race to find a cure to combat the Coronavirus pandemic.

Director General, SON, Osita Aboloma, represented by the Ogun State Office 11,  SON, Engr. Akanbi Eyitayo Micheal, said SON would not tolerate any minus in standards, during  a facility tour to Cormat Nigeria in Ogun on Thursday.

Aboloma  urged consumers to always insist on patronising only hand sanitisers certified by SON to avoid harmful effects to their skin while also getting value for their  hard earned money.

According to him, quality hand sanitisers and liquid hand wash are one of the critical tools to battle the virus, saying that hand washing with soap and water is one of the most important steps that can be taken to avoid getting sick and spreading the virus to loved ones.

He said  many diseases were spread by not cleaning the hands properly after touching contaminated objects or surfaces, stressing why it was  critical to wash hands at key times, such as after a flood or during a pandemic.

Recall that SON  supported  the manufacturing and importation of essential materials to combat the challenges of COVID-19 through the deployment of 28 relevant international Standards from the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and one from the African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) on Alcohol based Hand Sanitisers.

“In all our observations during  quarterly visits to the factory, they have been adhering to our standards and we will like to tell consumers and stakeholders  not to patronise all the hand sanitisers in the market, some of these hand sanitisers have bad reactions on your skin, so it is always good to patronise only certified liquid hand wash in this present situation we have found ourselves,” he said.

He urged  manufacturers to always visit SON to obtain the minimum requirement standards for producing goods in the country, stressing that SON would only support and encourage genuine businesses in the country.

He said in line with the Federal Government’s  ease of doing business mandate, SON had repositioned itself to become business facilitators, urging manufacturers to take advantage of SON’s services to become competitive,  both locally and globally.

“We are here to give technical support to Cormat Nigeria Limited.

They had been our stakeholders for the past 15 years and they are not coming into the business of alcohol-based hand sanitiser and liquid hand wash production, they have been on ground for more than a decade,” he added.

“We have always admonished manufacturers to come to us for technical support so that we can   guide them through. SON is with you all the way and in line with the ease of doing business mandate of the federal government, we are here to encourage manufacturers and even the small businesses too. Come to us, we will guide you and give you all the necessary technical  support,” he stressed.

Responding, the Head Technical and Plant Manager, Mr. Jelle Van Der Meer thanked SON for the visit stating that the company recognizes that it is a trying period in the world, so it is open to visits and suggestions by SON to help the company raise the bar for performance to a higher level in achieving corporate goals.

Van De Meer also reassured the SON team that as an ISO certified Company all observations for improvements will be adhered to and given the necessary attention as it is open for continual improvement with the proper understanding of what it means to produce premium quality products in keeping ahead of competition.

SON’s visit was important to the company as it would go a long way to raising its bar for standardisation while also generating new ideas and creating new opportunities for the company to be competitive.

Cormat Nigeria Ltd is a leading company into manufacturing of general household products and the focus of the technical support visit by SON was to the company’s production line of hygiene products especially the hand sanitizer and antiseptic cleaners where an inspection was conducted on the production process from storage through packaging and to the laboratory.

Responding to the DG’s charge, the Head Technical and Plant Manager, Mr. Jelle Van Der Meer thanked SON for the visit stating that the company recognizes that it is a trying period in the world, so it is open to visits and suggestions by SON to help the company raise the bar for performance to a higher level in achieving corporate goals.

Van De Meer also reassured the SON team that as an ISO certified Company all observations for improvements will be adhered to and given the necessary attention as it is open for continual improvement with the proper understanding of what it means to produce premium quality products in keeping ahead of competition.

He said SON’s input and their standards  helped the company to be in a good position to produce goods to meet international standards in a bid to combat the deadly virus.

“The visit by SON is very important because it gives us the ideas and opportunity to raise the bar and we are glad to receive technical support from SON to achieve bigger goals for the greater good.  I applaud SON for being part of our journey to get to the highest level  of producing quality products. Their input has been very important to us and it will trigger us to do even more and become better than our competitors,” he said.

Cormat Nigeria Ltd is a leading company into manufacturing of general household products and the focus of the technical support visit by SON was to the company’s production line of hygiene products especially the hand sanitizer and antiseptic cleaners where an inspection was conducted on the production process from storage through packaging and to the laboratory.