Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has rolled out Standards and Certification initiatives to promote sustainable growth of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.
This is as a result of the dwindling oil resources and the focus of the current government on zero oil economy and fostering MSMEs as engines for economic growth.
Although standards are technical documents that state the requirement for adjusting quality and ensuring the protection of lives, they are also necessary instruments for facilitating fair trade across borders, thereby enhancing competitiveness for sustainable economic development
Also, standards remain the backbone for industrial and economic development of any country, creating unspeakable link between the consumer and products.
In product certification, goods are verified to ascertain that it conforms to the requirement stipulated in the relevant specifications or standards. The initiatives involve getting over 32million MSMEs to embrace Standardisation and Certification through a nationwide sensitisation campaign.
Harmonising technical specifications of products and services to make the industry more efficient, breaking down barriers to trade and reassuring consumers that products are safe, efficient and good for the environment are some benefits of standardisation and certification.
Other benefits include; helping companies to tackle some of the most demanding challenges of modern business, ensuring that business operations are efficient to increase productivity and companies’ access new markets.
With the numerous benefits of Standardisation and Certification, the private sector should begin to crave for standards, in order to occupy the space created for diversification of the Nigerian economy.
In developed economies, standards are private sector driven through voluntary compliance while the government’s role is limited to providing platforms for meeting the needs of standardisation.
This is because standards have been accepted and proven to be critical tools that enhance products and services competitiveness, for attracting consumer confidence and patronage. The advantage is that products and services thrive with consumers in developed nations, through supporting evidences of compliance to standards.
To ensure adequate protection of territorial economies with the increasingly competitive in developments to ensure adequate protection of territorial economies, standards have become non-technical barriers recognised by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as instruments that could limit access to markets with rejections.
Nigeria’s export capacities, market access and product acceptability can only be promoted through voluntary quest and compliance to Standards, while SON plays the mandatory role of providing required standards and specification.
In recognition of the MSMEs as the engine of growth, SON has put in place a policy that ensures that MSMEs are involved in the standards development process, through inclusion in technical committees for elaborating standards.
As part of SON’s commitment to a voluntary culture and appreciation of imbibing standards by the MSMES in all sectors of the economy, the organisation has undertaken to extend its sensitisation activities to stakeholders nationwide.
Further to this, the 25 percent subsidy on the sale of standards to the MSMEs sector was initiated by SON to encourage the voluntary purchase and application of standards in production process in order to meet the needs of the consumers for quality products.
On February 3, 2016, SON flagged off its sensitisation campaign on the 25percent subsidy in the sales of standards to MSMES in Lafia, Nasarawa State capital.
The flag off of the campaign in Lafia was to sensitise manufacturers and consumers to promote the importance of standards in the eradication of substandard products in the country. It was also meant to promote the activities of the newly opened SON State office, which is intended to support the agricultural and industrial development initiatives of the state government.
Speaking at the sensitisation campaign in Lafia, Joseph Odumodu, the former Director General of SON, reiterated the commitment of SON towards the mentoring and development of the MSMEs as well as certifying MSMEs to enhance opportunities for supply chain linkages with larger firms.
In his speech, the Nasarawa State Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperative, urged manufacturers and other stakeholders in Nasarawa State to embrace standards in order to make their products more competitive in the local and international markets. The Commissioner said that the state government was ready to join hands with any agency willing to promote the agricultural products of the state as well as services, stressing that the state is the largest producer of Sesame seeds in the country.
The representative of SMEDAN noted that MSMEs account for 42percent of the total employment in the country and that non-usage of standards was a major challenge in the sector.
According to him, the absence of standards has been responsible for the rejection of locally produced goods by the MSMEs.
Chinwe Agbeze
