Concerned over the unbridled importation of low quality vehicles into Nigeria and its attendant economic and environmental loss to the nation, the Federal Government is set to enforce the ban on importation of seriously damaged vehicles.
Director General and Chief Executive of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON),Dr Joseph Odumodu, disclosed this in Abuja at the signing of agreements with the companies that will implement the conformity to standards of used motor vehicles coming into Nigeria.
According to the director general, the effects of import of poor quality motor vehicles are evident in the deterioration in road safety statistics, air pollution, degradation of environment and huge economic loss to the nation.
“Consequently, part of the expectation of automotive policy requires that we begin to aggressively monitor the importation of new vehicles into the country and create a regime which would ensure that they conform to the applicable Nigerian standards,” he said.
To control importation of low quality vehicles, Dr Odumodu said SON, as part of SONCAP regime, had designed a separate pre-shipment verification of conformity to standards on used vehicles. This, he said, was premised on the fact that the pre-shipment to conformity be done against NIS 127 and NCP 018.
He said three companies, namely Quality Assurance Project Limted, MedtechScientific Limited, and Cotecna Destination Inspection Limited had been accredited by SON to implement the programme.
Dr Odumodu said these companies were chosen based on their track records and the fact that they met the criteria of having certification to ISO/IEC 17020:1998
The SON boss disclosed that the accreditation would cover vehicle structural and safety inspection, vehicle emission testing, valuation and appraisal of vehicles, vehicle odometer inspection and verification, and regulatory documentation, verification and authentication.
Vehicles that the companies will not give certificate of good health to, according to the director-general, are any vehicle seriously damaged, vehicles that had reached their end of life or vehicles that have outstanding data recall and remedial action and vehicles from areas that have suffered radiological contamination
The Conformity Assessment Programme was intended to stem the tide of importation of sub-standard products into Nigeria.
