TheCable

The federal government says it has intensified efforts to eradicate the influx of fake and substandard products in the country.

Adeniyi Adebayo, minister of industry, trade and investment, made this known at an investigative hearing organised by the house of representatives joint committee on commerce; industry; information; national orientation; ethics and values.

The hearing was on the incessant influx of fake, substandard and counterfeit products into the country.

He said plans are underway to operationalise the national single window project as well as deploy scanners at the nation’s seaports before the end of the year.

The minister said there is an implementation committee at work to ensure the single window and scanners are deployed appropriately.

“This will significantly improve cargo turnaround time at our ports, promote efficiency and transparency, thereby removing the corruption opportunities that fuel the entry of substandard goods into the country, and enhance Nigerian ports’ competitiveness in the West African region,” he said.

The minister called on relevant agencies to further strengthen the enforcement of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria Conformity Assessment Programme (SONCAP) alongside proposed Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) reform interventions.

He said with the single window, port community portal and functional scanners at the ports, PEBEC aims to ensure that save the exception of the lead agencies, Nigerian Customs Service, Nigerian Ports Authority and Nigerian Police Force, there will be little or no need for routine physical examination of cargo by additional agencies at the ports.

Speaking at the event, Jumoke Oduwole, special adviser to the president on ease of doing business, said the action would further complement the efforts of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration in improving efficiency at port operations.

Oduwole commended the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) for the phased automation of compliance certification process amongst other innovations in their operations.

She said streamlining agencies’ operations at the port is at the core of Nigeria’s ease of doing business reforms and in line with global best practices aimed at removing bureaucratic constraints and reducing costs to doing business at the ports.