Views: Visits 5 By Jimoh Babatunde Manufacturers in Nigeria have been urged to make use of test laboratories of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) for testing, analysing and certifications of essential products in the country. The Director-General of SON, Mallam Farouk Salim, made the call following international accreditation awarded to SON test laboratories recently. READ ALSOTambuwal, Okowa, Ugwuanyi visit Ayade over threat to defect from PDP The labs have been accredited after the successful completion of evaluation processes by the American Association of Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) following the recognised international standards. Speaking at the presentation ceremony of the accredited laboratories in Lagos last week, Salim expressed delight that with the facilities in place, the nation’s export drive promises to be fruitful.
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Manufacturers urged to make use of SON’s labs
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By Jimoh Babatunde
Manufacturers in Nigeria have been urged to make use of test laboratories of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) for testing, analysing and certifications of essential products in the country.
The Director-General of SON, Mallam Farouk Salim, made the call following international accreditation awarded to SON test laboratories recently.
The labs have been accredited after the successful completion of evaluation processes by the American Association of Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) following the recognised international standards.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony of the accredited laboratories in Lagos last week, Salim expressed delight that with the facilities in place, the nation’s export drive promises to be fruitful.
Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has restated its resolve to safeguard lives and properties in the country by seizing a large cache of stuffed substandard tyres worth over N600M at a remote location in Asese Area, off Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Obafemi Owode Local Government of Ogun State.
The Director-General, Mallam Farouk Salim stated at the scene of the seizure that unscrupulous importers were taking advantage of the vastness of the country to warehouse substandard products at different hideouts, assuring that they would not escape the enforcement activities of his organisation.
Salim revealed that the tyres which were discovered after a tip-off were stuffed four into one, loaded in about one hundred (100) containers undetected through the entry ports without SON’s knowledge and shipped to the warehouse. This according to him further underscores the need for SON to be present at the nation’s ports of entry.
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Rufus Egbegba, director-general of NBMA, disclosed this during a media briefing in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said the federal government through the agency is always poised to protect the health of its citizens and the environment by providing case-by-case analysis of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and risk assessments.
“I want to restate here that the fruits and beans available in the Nigerian market presently are not genetically modified as insinuated rather they are either hybrids or improved,” he said.
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“The NBMA has not been resting on its oars in ensuring that only safe and approved genetically modified seed and grains for food and feed processing are allowed into the Nigerian market hence the constant upgrading of our GM detection and analysis laboratory and our constant Inspection of GMO facilities, confined field trial sites and multi-locational trial sites.
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The National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) has said that currently, there are no genetically modified beans and fruits in the Nigerian market.
The Director-General of NBMA, Dr Rufus Ebegba disclosed this, on Tuesday, while briefing journalists on the state of biosafety in the country.
He said what is sold in the market are hybrid fruits and beans which is been misconstrued by the public to be genetically modified crops.
He said, however, that the mandate of the Agency is not to stop the application of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), instead, the Agency is saddled with the responsibility of regulating the use of the technology.