17 August 2009

Federal Government of Nigeria has proposed a five-year jail term without an option of fine for importers of counterfeit products, as it partners India in the war against fake drug.
Already, a special legal framework to put the proposal into practice to ensure compliance by the importers is being worked within the context of the Standard Organization of Nigeria Conformity Assessment Program (SONCAP).
A statement from the Ministry for Commerce and Industry through its Minister of state for industry Mr. Humphrey Abah, enumerated the problem which importation of fake and sub-standard products caused in the country. He attributed escalation of fake drugs in the country to leniency posed by the laws prohibiting the importation.
SONCAP is a scheme introduced by the SON in September 2005, to ensure that certain regulated imports comply with the approved technical and other specifications acceptable in the country.
Importers bringing in goods into the country were supposed to collect a SONCAP certificate, being a mandatory customs clearance document, without which their goods would be delayed and possibly prevented from entering the country.
Abah added that government had taken note of this shortcoming as well as the many dangers of counterfeit and substandard imports into the country. He said these include loss of lives, closure of industries, huge loss of revenue and impairment of the country’s economic policies.
He stressed that it would be better to slam stiff penalties on culprits as a deterrent.
The minister, who was obviously troubled by the extent of the problem, said that in the interim, government would demonstrate its readiness to combat the problem by strengthening the internal mechanisms of SON and the other agencies to fight the problem.
Abah disclosed that this was to ensure that if not totally eradicated, importation of sub- standard and counterfeit products into the country should at least reduced to the barest minimum.
The presence of other key government agencies at the forum, including the Customs, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as well as the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) underscored the government’s seriousness to contain illegal imports.
He said some of the fake products in circulation in Nigeria originated from India and China .
He added that if importation of sub-standard products attracted death penalty in China , then there was no reason why Nigeria should not enforce stiffer penalty for the perpetrators of the crime in the country.
His words: “The Federal Government is gravely concerned about this issue and that was why it approved the introduction of the off-shore Conformity Assessment Programme (SONCAP) a few years back to ensure that goods are not allowed to leave their countries of origin to Nigeria without undergoing assessment to confirm their conformity to acceptable standards in Nigeria.”
He said the importation of sub-standard goods was a disincentive to the Nigerian economy and that Nigerians must commit themselves to laws that would help in stamping it out.
The minister said it was worrisome that Nigeria was losing hard-earned foreign exchange to other nations that were on sound economic footing because of the crime of fake goods’ importation and urged SON to make propositions to government on ways of checking the problem.
Abbah said some importers were actually making it difficult for goods to be cleared promptly at the ports, due to their dubious plans.
He said that the Customs and SON should work together to ensure that a few people in pursuit of their selfish interest did not jeopardise the nation’s interest.
Abah said SON should now strengthen its strategies in order to checkmate such unpatriotic people.
The Federal Government had in the recent times expressed its displeasure with the manner in which fake and sub-standard products flooded the country.
Some of the agencies had embarked enlightenment campaigns pointing out the evils of importing counterfeit products into the country, while they had declared their intention to combat the menace.
One of such efforts took place recently inside the Alaba International Market in Lagos. The market was believed to be the landing point for many of the electrical imports into the country. It was organised by the Consumer Protection Council in association with Nokia.
Also the India government had proposed a life jail term on producers of pharmaceutical products meant for Nigeria, if current moves by the country’s Drug Regulatory Agency succeeds at the parliament.
At the prompting of a high powered delegation of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), to India, led by its Director-General, Dr. Paul Orhii, the Indian drug regulatory authority was currently pushing through the parliament, a draft legislation that would impose a life jail on anybody who manufactured and exported fake and sub-standard drugs to Nigeria.
Similarly, any Nigerian drug importer who connived with an India drug company to produce fake drugs would also be jailed for life upon conviction by the law court.

compassnews