The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), has warned members of the public to be wary of substandard hand sanitisers presently being sold in the market.
The acting State Coordinator of SON in Plateau, Mr. James Yakzam gave the warning on Friday in Jos during the presentation of SON’s Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (MANCAP) Certification to NELMACO Global Resources Ltd.
“Hand sanitisers are supposed to be alcohol based but SON observed that some products in the market are void of alcohol and as such lack the efficacy to kill germs or sanitise the hands.
“Some of the products are concocted with all sorts of materials that could be detrimental to the end user.
“There is a specified standard for alcohol based hand sanitisers and people who want to produce hand sanitisers locally should come to SON office to seek proper guidelines for production and for the purchase of the required alcohol.
“SON will be going round shops in the state to seize substandard hand sanitisers that do not meet the specified requirement and anyone caught selling substandard sanitisers will be prosecuted.
“I want to advise the general public to stop purchasing manufactured products without SON’s certification,’’ he said.
According to him, products without SON certification are in the market illegally and can be detrimental to the public having not met the requirements for quality and safety.
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The state coordinator said that every product that met the requirements of the Nigerian Industrial Standards was safe and certified with either a MANCAP or an NIS (Nigerian Mark of Quality) sign.
Yakzam said the organisation ensured that all manufactured products complied with NIS requirements before their introduction to the market to promote consumer confidence and global competitiveness of Nigerian goods and services.
Earlier, the coordinator, during presentation of the MANCAP certification to NELMACO Global Resources, manufacturers of Unplasticised Polyvinyl Chloride and PVC pipes cautioned the company to continue to adhere to standard in spite being certified.
Yakzam urged the awardee to ensure adherence to SON’s standard as its products would still be subjected to regular surveillance.
He warned that the MANCAP certificate could be withdrawn if its products failed to conform to the required standard or if the company abused the rules of usage of the MANCAP logo.
Receiving the certificate, Mr. Nelson Mkparu, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NELMACO Global Resources LTD, said that his products had passed the monitoring process and conform to the Nigerian Industrial Standards which shows their safety and quality.
He assured that his company would not compromise on quality which would make the products compete favorably globally.
NAN
