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Monday, November 28, 2016

Brief History of Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON)

THE STANDARDS ORGANISATION OF NIGERIA (SON) AND THE PROTECTION OF THE CONSUMER IN NIGERIA.



Dr. Nkiru J. Obumneme-Okafor

Abstract
 The Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) is the body charged with the maintenance of standard of products consumables in the country whether locally manufactured or imported into the country. The aim here is to inquire into the establishment, constitution and functions of the organisation as provided in the SON Act to examine how it operates to ensure that the public consumes quality goods. The exercise will also look into the problems encountered by the organisation in the performance of its duties and suggest ways of surmounting or circumventing these obstacles to enable it function effectively.

Introduction

Standardization is synonymous with human life. Most human activities involve one form of standardization or another such that many a time, standards are applied unknowingly. For instance, a housewife who carefully selects her ingredients and determines the quantity of each of them may not know that she is applying a standard (Monye, 2003).  The term standardization has been defined by the International Standards Organisation (ISO) as a process of formulating and applying rules for an orderly approach to a specific activity for the benefit and with the cooperation of all concerned and in particular, for the promotion of optimum overall economy taking due account of functional conditions and safety requirements. It also means a conscious effort of man to simplify things, reduce unwanted variety and create order (Pollit,1990). It has been described as a system of control of the method of production as well as product standards or composition with the aim of ensuring that only good quality and safe products are put in the market( Monye,2003). Synthesising the foregoing, standardization is the application of required rules in the process of production while maintaining the normal product standards to ensure that goods produced and placed in the market are of good quality and safe for consumption.  The body, in the country today charged with the responsibility of standardization of methods and products is the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON). Currently the enabling legislation is the Standards Organization of Nigeria Act, Cap S9.( Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 SON ACT 2004). This work forays into the main aspects of this body because of its essence in the consumer protection arena.

Nature and Composition of the Organization

As the name depicts, the SON is set up to cater for and ensure that t
he goods produced and consumed in the country are of at least, the minimum required standard. The organization is a parastatal of the federal government and administered by the Ministry of Industries. It is a body corporate, having legal personality with all the incidents. It has two arms through which it operates – a Council which is the governing body of the organization called the Standards Council of Nigeria and the organization itself (Section 1(1 and 2) SON Act 2004). The Council sees to the running of the organization through the formulation of polices in accordance with the intent of the formation of the organization while the organization implements such polices. The organization is made up of a Director-General (DG) of Standards, the Directors, Secretary and other support staff to help in the running of the organization (Section 1 (2) SON Act 2004). The Council, which is the policy making body of the organization is made up of a seventeen member panel with the chairman who shall be the Director- General of the Federal Ministry of Industry, the D.G Standards and a representative from each of these bodies and fields of activity – the Federal Ministry of Industries, Agriculture and Rural Development, Health, Defence, Commerce, Transport, Works and Housing, University Education and Research, Chambers of Commerce



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